HAVERSTRAW, N.Y. -- A lack of financial support has led to the Village of Haverstraw, N.Y., dropping an ordinance calling for a ban on all public displays of tobacco products, advertising or signage in convenience stores in the village, to be replaced by a tobacco menu available upon request, because officials do not believe it is appropriate for taxpayers to shoulder the burden of such a case, reported The Rockland County Times.
The case could have gone as high as the U.S. Supreme Court, said the report.
As reported in a Raymond James/CSP Daily News Flash, the Village of Haverstraw Board of Trustees has approved the settlement with the plaintiffs who filed a federal lawsuit challenging the village's law restricting tobacco-product displays in c-stores, according to the Inside Rockland blog.
Under the settlement, the plaintiffs--Lorillard Tobacco Co., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Philip Morris USA Inc., Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., American Snuff Co. LLC, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Brands Inc. and John Middleton Co., as well as the New York Association of Convenience Stores--would drop the lawsuit if the village rescinds the law.
The plaintiffs argued that the village's law violated their freedom of speech.
The board has set a public hearing for August 13 to discuss a new law to officially repeal the existing law.
Maureen Kenney, director of POW'R Against Tobacco, told The Rockland County Times that the anti-tobacco movement failed to come through with funds for legal defense of the law after the seven tobacco companies filed the lawsuit.
"We tried our hardest," she told the newspaper. "We had offers of help from several organizations who could prepare legal briefings and arguments for the village to present and even some organizations who could offer some monetary support for filings and so on … but unfortunately not at the level needed to defend against seven tobacco giants. The tobacco industry came on very hard at the end to pressure the village to rescind quickly … so they are. It is a shame, but we have the utmost respect for the village for sticking their neck out there like they did."
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