"We are pleased that the court recognized that only the federal government has the power to control the content of cigarette warnings," said Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of PM USA.
"This lawsuit is not about communicating the health effects of cigarettes, which Philip Morris USA does in a number of ways, including on its website www.philipmorrisusa.com," said Garnick. "Rather, we brought this litigation because the city's resolution violates Congress' mandate giving the power to regulate content of cigarette advertising and promotion to the federal government, subject to constitutional limitations."
The law would have forced all bodegas and c-stores to post "gruesome" images of diseased lungs, brains and teeth in the shops to discourage people from buying cigarettes, reported The New York Times.
In a 13-page ruling, Judge Jed S. Rakoff wrote that while the law was well intentioned, it violated federal law since only the federal government had the authority to regulate cigarette warnings and advertisements. "Even merchants of morbidity are entitled to the full protection of the law," Rakoff wrote, "for our sake as well as theirs."
The decision puts an end--at least for now--to the city's plan to have the placards displayed beside cash registers in more than 11,000 establishments across the city, said the report. While awaiting Rakoff's ruling, the city had agreed that it would postpone enforcement of its rule until this weekend, said the report.
Lawyers with the city's Law Department said they planned to appeal the decision.
In June, PM USA, Lorillard and R. J. Reynolds--joined with NYACS in filing a lawsuit challenging the rule. In their suit, the tobacco companies and convenience stores said the rule violated the First Amendment rights of retailers who disagreed with the message, and breached a law stating that only the federal government can regulate cigarette warnings and advertising.
Rakoff also cited the 1965 Labeling Act, said the report, which gave the federal government exclusive authority over cigarette warnings. That law, he wrote, seeks to balance public and commercial interests: the federal government protects the public, but also sets clear and uniform cigarette regulations that protect "commerce and the national economy."
He added that the Labeling Act also contains a provision forbidding any state laws from conflicting with the federal government's policies on cigarette warnings and advertisements. That, he concluded, makes the city's placard policy illegal.
Floyd Abrams, a lawyer who represented NYACS, told the newspaper that even though the city had agreed not to enforce the rule until this weekend, many retail shops had put up the graphic placards anyway.
Praising the decision, he said, "It will allow the retail stores in New York to be freed of the obligation to put signs up urging customers not to buy their lawful products."
In a statement cited by the Times, the health department said that the city "strongly disagrees" with the ruling and that tobacco companies "trying to prevent these messages from being seen should be ashamed of themselves."
"The city's warning signs portray completely factual messages about the dangers of smoking," the statement added. "They do so at the exact moment when smokers are making decisions about purchasing tobacco. We believe it is the city's responsibility to help smokers quit and to protect children from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke."
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