US District Judge Gladys Kessler granted a request from BAT that under US law it is no longer subject to an initial ruling she made in 2006 that found tobacco companies had breached racketeering laws by collectively deceiving the public about the dangers of smoking.

According to a story in the Telegraph, BAT's lawyers argued that their company, which is based in Great Britain, should be exempt from the ruling because US law did not have the authority to hold a foreign company liable for its actions outside the US.
Using a Supreme Court ruling from last year involving National Australia Bank as a precedent, Judge Kessler ruled the US had limited authority in trans-national lawsuits against foreign companies.
"There is no evidence that Congress intended to criminalise foreign racketeering activities," Judge Kessler wrote. However, she ruled that BAT would still have to contribute to some of the legal costs of the US government because it won the original ruling. Philip Pfeffer, a lawyer for BAT, said that it was pleased with the decision.
In 2006, Kessler found that the BAT Investments unit BAT and other cigarette companies violated anti-racketeering laws by conspiring to hide the dangers of cigarettes. Kessler ordered the companies to stop marketing cigarettes as “light” and “low-tar” and to make statements about the health effects of smoking in newspapers and magazines and on cigarette packages. (pi)