Federal regulation of cigarette advertisements?

Case Type:

Exigence:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has adopted a set of rules that:

generally limits tobacco advertising in all existing media forms to a black-and-white, text-only format. Outdoor advertising is prohibited within 1,000 feet of public playgrounds, elementary schools or secondary schools. Advertisements in publications read primarily by adults and advertisements placed in adult-only locations are exempt from any advertising restrictions.

Tobacco companies will not be permitted to sell or distribute promotional items such as tee shirts, caps, and sporting goods identified with tobacco products, for example through use of a brand name or logo. Similarly, logos, brand names, and other identifiers of tobacco products cannot be used in sponsorship of musical, cultural, and other events or on teams and entries. However, sponsored events and entries in the name of a tobacco company may continue.

Audience:

Possible
Constraints:

44 Liquormart v. Rhode Island

More materials on the rules and the lawsuit:

• The Executive Summary of the FDA's new rules.
• The full version of the rules.
• The FDA's page of resources on Children and Tobacco--materials in support of the rules.
• The tobacco companies sue: their Complaint.
• The court brief submitted by the tobacco companies, arguing that the regulation is unconstitutional.
• The reply brief of the Justice Department.
• An amicus brief from Public Citizen, arguing for the constitutionality of the rules.
• The industry's brief in reply to these arguments.
• The District Court's decision. (Note: The District Court struck down the advertisement limitations, holding that the Food & Drug Administration does not have the power to restrict advertisements. For the purposes of this hypothetical, assume that this ruling is wrong. In other words, assume that the FDA does have the power to regulate tobacco advertising, and consider whether the regulations actually passed are constitutional).
• The Department of Justice's page of tobacco news, summarizing the court events up to now.

A library of tobacco-related resources.

Decision:

Related
issues:

Notes:

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