Altria Group v. Good - US Supreme Court - December 15, 2008
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-562.pdf
From the court's syllabus....
Respondents, smokers of petitioners’ "light" cigarettes, filed suit, alleging that petitioners violated the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act(MUTPA) by fraudulently advertising that their "light" cigarettes delivered less tar and nicotine than regular brands. The District Court granted summary judgment for petitioners, finding the state-lawclaim pre-empted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (Labeling Act). The First Circuit reversed, holding that the Labeling Act neither expressly nor impliedly pre-empts respondents’ fraud claim.
Held: Neither the Labeling Act’s pre-emption provision nor the Federal Trade Commission’s actions in this field pre-empt respondents’ statelaw fraud claim. Pp. 5–20.
(a) Congress may indicate pre-emptive intent through a statute’s express language or through its structure and purpose. When the text of an expresspre-emption clause is susceptible of more than one plausible reading,courts ordinarily "accept the reading that disfavors pre-emption." The LabelingAct’s stated purposes are to inform the public of the health risks ofsmoking while protecting commerce and the economy from the ill effects of nonuniform requirements to the extent consistent with the first goal. Although fidelity to these purposes does not demand thepre-emption of state fraud rules, the principal question here is whether that result is nevertheless required by 15 U. S. C. §1334(b), which provides that "[n]o requirement or prohibition based on smoking and health shall be imposed under State law with respect to theadvertising or promotion of any cigarettes the packages of which are labeled in conformity with the provisions of this chapter." Pp. 5–9.
(b) Respondents’ claim is not expressly pre-empted by §1334(b). As determined in several Supreme Court cases, the phrase "based onsmoking and health" modifies the state-law rule at issue rather than a particular application of that rule. The plurality in one case concluded that "the phrase ‘based on smoking and health’ fairly but narrowly construed" did not pre-empt the plaintiff’s commonlaw claim that cigarette manufacturers had fraudulently misrepresented and concealed a material fact, because the claim alleged a violation of a duty not to deceive—a duty that is not "based on" smokingand health. Respondents here also allege a violation of the duty not to deceive as codified in the MUTPA, which, like the common-law duty in Cipollone, has nothing to do with smoking and health. Respondents’ claim is not analogous to the "warning neutralization" claim found to be pre-empted in Cipollone. Reilly is consistent with Cipollone’s analysis. This Court disagrees with petitioners’ alternative argument that the express pre-emption framework of Cipollone and Reilly should be rejected.
(c) Various Federal Trade Commission decisions with respect to statements of tar and nicotine content do not impliedly pre-empt state deceptive practices rules like the MUTPA. Pp. 17–20. 501 F. 3d 29, affirmed and remanded.
STEVENS, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which KENNEDY, SOUTER, GINSBURG, and BREYER, JJ., joined. THOMAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and SCALIA and ALITO, JJ., joined.
