The Supreme Court agreed Friday last week to consider whether tobacco companies can be protected from state court judgments since cigarettes are regulated by the federal government.

In one of four appeals accepted on 12 January, justices had been asked to decide whether lawsuits that accuse cigarette-makers of wrongdoing can be shifted out of state court and into federal court, under a special provision.
That's what happened in Arkansas, where Philip Morris was sued in a class-action case claiming that the company violated state law in marketing its "light" cigarettes. The suit claimed the cigarettes were more dangerous than the company advertised. Tobacco companies have faced similar suits around the country. The suit covered people who used Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights.
The tobacco company sought to have the case moved into federal court under a "federal officer" provision that allows suits against federal officials to be kept out of state courts.
Federal courts are more desirable to corporations facing lawsuits, in part because state juries in some parts of the country are considered more likely to return large damage awards. (pi)