Judge Gladys Kessler, who had ruled in 2006 that major US tobacco companies were guilty of racketeering because of years of deception about tobacco's safety, insisted on Wednesday that she retain jurisdiction over the case

The judge is considering forcing the companies to pay for a campaign of "corrective" statements on the addictiveness of nicotine and the lack of health benefit from cigarettes sold as "low tar," "ultra-light" or "mild."
The companies had argued that she had lost jurisdiction because of a 2009 law giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco.
The companies also argued that being regulated by the FDA would make it less likely they would commit future racketeering offenses. Kessler disagreed, calling their assertions "simply unconvincing."
"We continue to believe that the FDA is the appropriate agency to regulate tobacco products and we're considering our appellate options," said Steve Callahan, spokesperson for Altria Group.
The racketeering case, filed in 1999 by the Clinton administration, sought to force the industry to fund a smoking cessation program and other remedies. Under the Bush administration, the US Justice Department dropped demands from USD 280 billion to USD 14 billion.
Kessler ruled in 2006 that the companies broke the law and could no longer use expressions such as "low tar" or "light" in their cigarette marketing. But she also said she could not force them to fund a smoking cessation program, and an appeals court agreed.
The Obama administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled in June that tobacco companies could not be forced to pay billions for stop-smoking programs.
Defendants named in the original suit include Reynolds American's R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co, Lorillard Inc and Altria, which owns Philip Morris USA Inc. (pi)