Courts Upholds Lower Court’s Graphic Cigarette Label Ban

On Friday, a federal appeals court struck down governmental requirements for graphic warning labels on the packages of cigarettes. The court said the government had not provided enough evidence that the graphic labels would lower the smoking rates. The three-judge panel ruled in a decision 2-1 that federal regulators had fallen short of the constitutional requirements of justifying the rules for the labels.

The court ruled that the First Amendment requires that the government not just state a significant interest in why a regulation is needed on commercial speech, but it also must show that its proposed regulation directly aids in advancing the goal. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said the court, had failed in provide any data, much less significant evidence that showed that enacting the proposed warning labels would accomplish the stated objective of the agency to reduce the rates of smoking. An attorney for one of the cigarette companies called the decision a major victory.

He said it was a huge ruling for the First Amendment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department said the DOJ would not have an immediate comment on the court’s ruling. The FDA also declined to make a comment, citing an agency policy that does not allow for discussion of court cases. Some observers said they believe the matter will eventually be decided in the U.S. Supreme Court. Last March, another federal court of appeals upheld the majority of the authority the government has to regulate all tobacco products, including what the requirements are for labelling. That created a legal conflict in the court system that could lead to a review by the high court.