# Appendix — Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc.

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## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Appendix
- **Published:** January 1, 1987
- **Citation:** 479 U.S. 1043

## Text

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86-5 63

Supreme Court LS,

[FILED
OCT 6 1986

Supreme Court of the Hnftededitatesec. m

CLERK

In The

in
October Term, 1986

ANTONIO CIPOLLONE, individually and as Executor of the
Estate of Rose D. Cipollone,

Petitioner,

vs.

LIGGETT GROUP, INC., a Delaware Corporation; PHILIP
MORRIS INCORPORATED, a Virginia Corporation; and
LOEW’S THEATRES, INC., a New York Corporation,

Respondents.

APPENDIX

MARC Z. EDELL
BUDD LARNER GROSS PICILLO
ROSENBAUM GREENBERG & SADE, P.C.
Attorneys for Petitioner
150 John F. Kennedy Parkway, CN 1000
Short Hills, New Jersey 07078-0999
(201) 379-4800

Of Counsel:
ALAN M. DARNELL
WILENTZ, GOLDMAN & SPITZER
900 Route 9 Box 10
Woodbridge, New Jersey 07095
(201) 636-8000

tz i *Nd (201) 257-6850¢NY (212) $40-4640PA (215) 563-5587
ters.ime. MA (617) 542-1114*DC (202) 783-7288¢USA (800) 5 APPEAL

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
APPENDIX
Appendix A—Order of the Supreme Court Dated July 21,
SR 3s atk tint hig nig pl abe a ea ain gl aa we oan ae ot la
Appendix B—Sur Petition for Rehearing Dated May 9,
Pek SAW LET ADA Sa E Lee TRA ea 2a
Appendix C—Amended Judgment Dated April 7, 1986
oad acl nat Cae eee Kaan Ak ahha eRe ees 4a
Appendix D—Opinion of United States Court of Appeals,
Third Circuit Dated April 7, 1986.............. 6a
Appendix E—Opinion of the United States District Court,
ES ae rane 20a
Appendix F—Statutory Provisions Involved.......... 74a
Appendix G—Article from ‘‘The Nation’’ Dated June 7,
ss bag RS Pay tend dag we a acre Salas 8la
Appendix H—Opinion of the Court in Haight, et al. v.
The American Tobacco Co., et al. ............. 89a

Appendix I[—Opinion on Motion to Vacate of Third
Circuit Court of Appeals Filed September 29, 1986

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APPENDIX A—ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT
DATED JULY 21, 1986

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. A-37
ANTONIO CIPOLLONE, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS
EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF ROSE D. CIPOLLONE,
DECEASED,
Applicant,
y.

LIGGETT GROUP, INC., ET AL.

ORDER EXTENDING TIME TO FILE PETITION FOR WRIT
OF CERTIORARI é

UPON CONSIDERATION of the application of counsel for
the applicant, 3

IT IS ORDERED that the time for filing a petition for a
writ of certiorari in the above-entitled case be, and the same is
hereby, extended to and including October 6, 1986.

s/ William J. Brennan, Jr.

Associate Justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States

Dated this 21st
day of July, 1986.

2a

APPENDIX B—SUR PETITION FOR REHEARING DATED
MAY 9, 1986

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

Nos. 85-5073 and 85-5074

ANTONIO CIPOLLONE, individually and as Executor of the
Estate of Rose D. Cipollone,

V.

LIGGETT GROUP, INC., a Delaware Corporation; PHILIP
MORRIS INCORPORATED, a Virginia Corporation and
LOEW’S THEATRES, INC., a New York Corporation

Liggett Group, Inc., Appellant in 85-5073
Loew’s Theatres, Inc.; Appellant in 85-5074 ©

SUR PETITION FOR REHEARING

Present: ALDISERT, Chief Judge, SEITZ, GIBBONS,
HUNTER, GARTH, HIGGINBOTHAM, SLOVITER,
BECKER, STAPLETON, and MANSMANN, Circuit Judges

The petition for rehearing filed by ANTONIO CIPOLLONE
in the above entitled case having been submitted to the judges
who participated in the decision of this court and to all the other
available circuit judges of the circuit in regular active service, and
no judge who concurred in the decision having asked for rehearing,
and a majority of the circuit judges of the circuit in regular active
service not having voted for rehearing by the court in banc, the

3a

Appendix B

petition for rehearing is denied. Judges Gibbons and Mansmann
would grant the petition for rehearing.

By the Court,

s/ James Hunter III
Judge

Dated: May 9, 1986

4a

APPENDIX C—AMENDED JUDGMENT DATED APRIL
7, 1986

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

No. 85-5073 and 85-5074

ANTONIO CIPOLLONE, individually and as Executor of the
Estate of Rose D. Cipollone,

Ve
LIGGETT GROUP, INC., a Delaware Corporation; PHILIP
MORRIS INCORPORATED, a Virginia Corporation and
LOEW’S THEATRES, INC., a New York Corporation

Liggett Group, Inc., Appellant in 85-5073
Loew’s Theatres, Inc., Appellant in 85-5074

(D.C. Civil No. 83-2864)
ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY — NEWARK

Present: HUNTER and SLOVITER, Circuit Judges, and GILES,
District Judge*

AMENDED JUDGMENT

This cause came on to be heard on the record from the United

* Hon. James T. Giles, United States District Judge for the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation.

Sa

Appendix C

States District Court for the District of New Jersey—Newark and
was argued by counsel February 13, 1986.

On consideration whereof, it is now here ordered and
adjudged by this Court that the judgment of the said District
Court, entered September 24, 1984 as amended December 11, 1984
and certified to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), be,
and the same is hereby reversed to the extent that it granted the
Cipollones’ motion to strike appellants’ preemption defenses. It
is further ordered that the cause be remanded to the said District
Court for further proceedings consistent with the opinion of this
Court. Costs taxed against the appellee in both cases.

ATTEST:

s/ Sally Mrvos
Clerk

April 7, 1986

6a

APPENDIX D—OPINION OF UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS, THIRD CIRCUIT DATED APRIL 7,1986

Antonio CIPOLLONE, individually and as Executor of the Estate
of Rose D. Cipollone

v.

—

LIGGETT GROUP, INC., a Delaware Corporation; Philip Morris
Incorporated, a Virginia Corporation and Loew’s Theatres, Inc.,
a New York Corporation.

Appeal of LIGGETT GROUP, INC.,
Appellant in 85-5073

Appeal of LOEW’S THEATRES, INC.,
Appellant in 85-5074

Nos. 85-5073, 85-5074.

United States Court of Appeals,
Third Circuit

Argued Feb. 13, 1986.
Decided April 7, 1986.
As Amended April 18, 1986.

Rehearing and Rehearing In Banc
Denied May 9, 1986.

Before HUNTER, SLOVITER, Circuit Judges, and GILES,*
District Judge.

* Honorable James T. Giles, United States District Judge for the District
of Eastern Pennsylvania, sitting by designation.

7a

Appendix D
OPINION OF THE COURT
JAMES HUNTER, III, Circuit Judge.

This case, before the court on the district court’s certification
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) (1982), presents the question
whether the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, 15
U.S.C. §§ 1331-1340 (1982) (the ‘‘Act’’), preempts any or all of
the state common law claims brought by appellee Antonio
Cipollone and his wife Rose in the district court. Several of the
claims in the Cipollones’ compiaint concern the alleged failure
of the defendants, Liggett Group, Inc., Philip Morris
Incorporated, Loews Corporation, Loew’s Theatres, Inc.
(‘‘Lorillard’’), to provide an adequate warning of the dangers
of the cigarettes that they manufactured and sold. Because these
claims implicate the legislatively mandated warning provided in
section 1333 of the Act, the answers of Liggett Group, Philip
Morris, and Lorillard each included a defense based on the
preemptive effect of the Act. The Cipollones responded by filing
a motion to strike the preemption defenses. Lorillard, later joined
by Philip Morris, then moved for judgment on the pleadings
pursuant to Federal Rule Civil Procedure 12(c). Holding that the
Act preempted none of the Cipollones’ claims, the district court
granted the Cipollones’ motion to strike the defenses and denied
the motion for judgment on the pleadings. Cipollone v. Liggett
Group, Inc., 593 F.Supp. 1146, 1171 (D.N.J. 1984). On January
21, 1984, this court granted appellants Lorillard and Liggett Group
permission to appeal.' Because we disagree with the district court’s

1. Liggett Group petitioned for leave to appeal only from the portion of
the district court’s order granting the Cipollones’ motion to strike defenses.
See Joint Appendix at A205. Lorillard sought leave to appeal from the entire

(Cont’d)

8a

Appendix D

conclusion concerning the preemptive effect of the Act, we will
reverse the district court’s grant of the motion to strike and will
remand the case for further proceedings.

I.
A. The Complaint

In their complaint, Rose and Antonio Cipollone alleged that
Mrs. Cipollone developed lung cancer as a result of smoking
cigarettes manufactured and sold by appellants. The complaint,
which was originally filed on August 1, 1983, further averred that
Mrs. Cipollone began smoking in 1942 and developed lung cancer
as a result of her smoking. Mrs. Cipollone died in October 1984,
but her husband has continued prosecuting this action, individually
and as executor of his wife’s estate. Mr. Cipollone is therefore
the sole appellee in this case.

As observed by the district court, the fourteen-count
complaint sets forth claims based on strict liability (Counts 2,
3, and 9), negligence (Counts 4 and 5), breach of warranty (Count
7), and intentional tort (Counts 6 and 8). The Cipollones claimed
that the defendants’ cigarettes were unsafe and defective (Count
2) and that defendants are subject to liability for their failure
to warn of the hazards of cigarette smoking on the basis of
negligence (Count 4) or strict liability (Count 3). In addition,

(Cont’d)

order, which included a denial of its motion for judgment on the pleadings.
See Joint Appendix at A203. Nevertheless, both appellants made clear in their
reply brief and at oral argument that they did not challenge the district court’s
denial of Lorillard’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. See Reply Brief
of Appellants at 3; Transcript of Oral Argument at 7, 18. We will therefore
consider only the district court’s grant of the motion to strike.

9a

Appendix D

the Cipollones asserted, defendants negligently (Count 5) or
intentionally (Count 6) advertised their products in a manner that
neutralized the warnings actually provided, warnings made
meaningless by the addiction created by cigarettes (Count 9).
Finally, the complaint stated that the defendants ignored, failed
to act upon, and conspired to deprive the public of medical and
scientific data reflecting the dangers associated with cigarettes
(Count 8).?

B. The Federal Cigarette and Advertising Labeling Act

The Federal Cigarette and Advertising Act, originally enacted
in 1965, was a response to a growing awareness among members
of federal as well as state government that cigarette smoking posed
a significant health threat to Americans. The original Act required
- the following warning label on cigarette packages: ‘‘Caution:
Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health.’’ 15 U.S.C.
§ 1333 (1970). Congress changed this warning, by amendment
to the Act in 1969, to the following: ‘‘Warning: The Surgeon
General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous
to Your Health.’’ 15 U.S.C. § 1333 (1976).* The Act, as amended

2. Counts 1 and 10 through 14 are not pertinent to this appeal.

3. In 1984, Congress replaced this warning with rotational warnings
providing:

SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking Causes
Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May
Complicate Pregnancy.

SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Quitting
Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Heath.

SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking By
Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature
Birth, and Low Birth Weight.

(Cont’d)

10a
Appendix D
in 1970, expressly stated the policy behind the required warning:

It is the policy of the Congress, and the
purpose of this chapter, to establish a
comprehensive Federal program to deal with
cigarette labeling and advertising with respect to
any relationship between smoking and health,
whereby—

(1) the public may be adequately
informed that cigarette smoking may be
hazardous to health by inclusion of a warning
to that effect on each package of cigarettes;
and

(2) commerce and the national economy
may be (A) protected to the maximum extent
consistent with this declared policy and (B)
not impeded by diverse, nonuniform, and
confusing cigarette labeling and advertising
regulations with respect to any relationship
between smoking and health.

15 U.S.C. § 1331 (1982).*

(Cont’d)
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Cigarette Smoke
Contains Carbon Monoxide.

15 U.S.C. § 1333(a)(1) (Supp. II. 1984). The 1984 warning, however, has limited
relevance here because the complaint contains no allegation that Mrs. Cipollone
smoked cigarettes manufactured and sold by any defendant after 1981.

4. Congress amended paragraph one of section 1331 in 1984 by adding
a reference to warning notices in cigarette advertisements. Paragraph one now
(Cont’d)

lla

Appendix D

The Act also contains a preemption provision, which provides
that

(a) No statement relating to smoking and
health, other than the statement required by section
1333 of this title, shall be required on any cigarette
package.

(b) No requirement or prohibition based on
smoking and health shall be imposed under State
law with respect to the advertising or promotion
of any cigarettes the packages of which are labeled
in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.

15 U.S.C. § 1334 (1982). Confronted with this provision, the
district court did not question that the Act prohibits state
legislatures from requiring a warning on cigarette packages that
alters that provided in section 1333. Nevertheless, after a
comprehensive analysis of the Act, the court concluded that section
1334 does not preempt state common law claims such as those
that the Cipollones have asserted.

II.
A. Preemption Principles

The United States Supreme Court has identified several
principles for ascertaining congressional intent to preempt state

(Cont’d)

provides: ‘‘(1) the public may be adequately informed about any adverse health
effects of cigarette smoking by inclusion of warning notices on each package
of cigarettes and in each advertisement of cigarettes. . . ’’ 15 U.S.C. § 1331(1)
(Supp. II 1984).

12a

Appendix D

authority. To begin, Congress may preempt state law by express
statement. Jones v. Rath Packing Co., 430 U.S. 519, 525, 97 S.Ct.
1305, 1309, 51 L.Ed.2d 604 (1977). Without the aid of express
language, a court may find intent to preempt in two general ways.
Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 464 U.S. 238, 104 S.Ct. 615,
621, 78 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984). First, a court may determine that
Congress intended ‘‘to occupy a field’’ in a given area

because ‘‘[t]he scheme of federal regulation may
be so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference
that Congress left no room for the States to
supplement it,’’ because ‘‘the Act of Congress may
touch a field in which the federal interest is so
dominant that the federal system will be assumed
to preclude enforcement of state laws on the same
subject,’’ or because ‘‘the object sought to be
obtained by the federal law and the character of
obligations imposed by it may reveal the same

purpose.’’

Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Association v. De la Cuesta, 458
U.S. 141, 153, 102 S.Ct. 3014, 3022, 73 L.Ed.2d 664 (1982)
(quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230,
67 S.Ct. 1146, 1152, 91 L.Ed. 1447 (1947)). Second, in those
instances where Congress has not wholly superceded state
regulation in a specific area, state law is preempted ‘‘to the extent
that it actually conflicts with federal law.’’ Pacific Gas & Electric
Co. v. Energy Resources Conservation & Development
Commission, 461 U.S. 190, 204, 103 S.Ct. 1713, 1722, 75 L.Ed.2d
752 (1982). The Court has stated that such conflict arises when
‘*compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical
impossibility,’’ Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul,
373 U.S. 132, 142-43, 83 S.Ct. 1210, 1217-18, 10 L.Ed.2d 248

13a

Appendix D

(1963), or where state law ‘‘stands as an obstacle to the
accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives
of Congress.’’ Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67, 61 S.Ct.
399, 404, 85 L.Ed. 581 (1941). Finally, in applying these principles,
a court must be mindful of the overriding presumption that
**Congress did not intend to displace state law.’’ Maryland v.
Louisiana, 451 U.S. 725, 746, 101 S.Ct. 2114, 2129, 68 L.Ed.2d
576 (1981); see also Rice, 331 U.S. at 230, 67 S.Ct. at 1152.

B. Express Preemption

In applying these principles to the statutory scheme at issue
here, we first express our agreement with the district court’s
conclusion that section 1334 does not provide for express
preemption of the Cipollones’ state common law claims. See
Cipollone, 593 F.Supp. at 1154-55; accord Roysdon v. R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co.,623 F.Supp. 1189, 1190 (E.D.Tenn. 1985);
Roysdon v. R.J. Reynolds, No. 3-84-606, slip op. at 2 (E.D.Tenn.
Dec. 11, 1985). Because we are constrained by the presumption
against preemption, we cannot say that the language of section
1334 clearly encompasses state common law. We find support
for this determination in Congress’s failure to include state
common law explicitly within section 1334, as it has in numerous
other statutes.’ Indeed, in the absence of a preemption provision

5. Examples of statutes that include a preemption provision explicitly
encompassing state common law include 12 U.S.C. §§ 1715z-17(d), 1715z-18(e)
(Supp. II 1984) (Domestic Housing and International Recovery and Financial
Stability Act); 17 U.S.C. § 301(a) (Copyright Act of 1976); and 29 U.S.C.
§ 1144(a), (c)(1) (1982) (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974).

It should be noted that just as Congress could have included a reference
to preemption of state common law in section 1334, it also could have included
(Cont’d)

l4a

Appendix D

encompassing state common law, the Supreme Court has relied
generaily on principles of implied preemption in evaluating whether
a statutory scheme preempts state common law. See, e.g.,
Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 464 U.S. 238, 104 S.Ct. 615,
78 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984); Chicago & North Western Transportation
Co. v. Kalo Brick & Tile Co., 450 U.S. 311, 101 S.Ct. 1124, 67
L.Ed.2d 258 (1981). Accordingly, we turn to examining whether
congressional intent to preempt the Cipollones’ claims may be
inferred under the two general principles of implied preemption.

C. Implied Preemption

In pressing their implied preemption arguments in this appeal,
each side relies extensively on the legislative history of the Act.
As is often the case with legislative history, both sides have
succeeded in gleaning passages that bolster their contrary positions.
Although we find the legislative history to the Act informative,
no materials have come to our attention that we deem wholly
dispositive of the issue before us. Even more important, we find
the language of the statute itself a sufficiently clear expression
of congressional intent without resort to the Act’s legislative
history. See Blum v. Stenson, 465 U.S. 886, 104S.Ct. 1541, 1548,
79 L.Ed.2d 891 (1984); Piper v. Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., 430
U.S. 1, 26, 97 S.Ct. 926, 941, 51 L.Ed.2d 124 (1977).

Under the principles of implied preemption, we must first

(Cont’d)

a ‘‘savings clause’’ explicitly preserving the continued vitality of state common
law, such as that in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C.
§ 653(b)(4) (1982). Thus, lack of reference to preemption of state common law
in section 1334 has significance only because of the presumption against
preemption.

pet etek

1Sa

Appendix D

determine whether Congress intended ‘‘to occupy the field’’
relating to cigarettes and health to the exclusion of state law
product liability actions such as the Cipollones. Our examination
of the Act leads us to agree with the district court’s statements
that ‘‘Congress . . . intended to occupy a field’’ and ‘‘indicated
this intent as clearly as it knew how.’’ Cipollone, 593 F.Supp.
at 1164 (emphasis in original). Not only did Congress use sweeping
language in describing the preemptive effect of the Act in section
1334, but it expressed its desire in section 1331 to establish ‘‘a
comprehensive Federal program”’ in order to avoid ‘‘diverse, non-
uniform, and confusing cigarette labeling and advertising
regulations with respect to any relationship between smoking and
health.’’ See Palmer v. Liggett & Myers Tobacco, Inc., 635
F.Supp. 392 (D.Mass. 1984) (Congress has preempted field with
respect to cigarette labeling).

In determining the scope of this field, we observe that the
Cipollones’ tort action concerns rights and remedies traditionally
defined solely by state law. We therefore must adopt a restrained
view in evaluating whether Congress intended to supercede entirely
private rights of action such as those at issue here. See Rice, 331
U.S. at 230, 67 S.Ct. at 1152; Cipollone, 593 F.Supp. at 1165-66;
see also Silkwood, 104 S.Ct. at 623-24; Florida Avocado Growers,
373 U.S. at 143-44, 83 S.Ct. at 1211. In light of this constraint,
we cannot say that the scheme created by the Act is ‘‘so pervasive’”’ _
or the federal interest involved ‘‘so dominant’’ as to eradicate
all of the Cipollones’ claims. Nor are we persuaded that the object
of the Act and the character of obligations imposed by it reveal
a purpose to exert exclusive control over every aspect of the
relationship between cigaretts and health. See Banzhaf v. F.C.C..,
405 F.2d 1082, 1089-91 (D.C.Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 396 U.S.
842, 90 S.Ct. 50, 24 L.Ed.2d 93 (1969); see also Southern Railway
Co. v. Railroad Commission of Indiana, 236 U.S. 439, 446-48,

l6a

Appendix D

35 S.Ct. 304, 305-06, 59 L.Ed. 661 (1915). Thus, we look to the
extent to which the Cipollones’ state law claims ‘‘actually conflict’’
with the Act to ascertain whether they are preempted.

The test enunciated by this court for addressing a potential
conflict between state and federal law requires us ‘‘to examine
first the purposes of the federal law and second the effect of the
operation of the state law on these purposes.’’ Finberg v. Sullivan,
634 F.2d 50, 63 (3d Cir. 1980) (in banc) (citing Perez v. Campbell,
402 U.S. 637, 91 S.Ct. 1704, 29 L.Ed.2d 233 (1971)). As mentioned
above, Congress has provided us with an explicit statement of
the Act’s purposes in section 1331. That statement reveals that
the Act represents a carefully drawn balance between the purposes
of warning the public of the hazards of cigarette smoking and
protecting the interests of national economy. See Banzhaf, 405
F.2d at 1090. Moreover, the preemption provision of section 1334,
read together with section 1331, makes clear Congress’s
determination that this balance would be upset by either a
requirement of a warning other than that prescribed in section
1333 or a requirement or prohibition based on smoking and health
‘‘with respect to the advertising or promotion”’ of cigarettes. See
15 U.S.C. § 1334.

Having identified the purposes of the Act, we now must
evaluate the effect of the operation of state common law claims
on these purposes. In so doing, we accept the appellants’ assertion
that the duties imposed through state common law damage actions
have the effect of requirements that are capable of creating ‘‘an
obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes
and objectives of Congress.’’ See Hines, 312 U.S. at 67, 61 S.Ct.
at 404; see also Dawson v. Chrysler Corp., 630 F.2d 950, 962
(3d Cir. 1980) (liability under common law has the effect of
imposing requirements), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 959, 101 S.Ct.

17a

Appendix D

1418, 67 L.Ed.2d 383 (1981). As the appellants point out, several
Supreme Court opinions reflect recognition of the regulatory effect
of state law damage claims and their potential for frustrating
congressional objectives. See, e.g., Fidelity, 458 U.S. at 156-59,
102 S.Ct. at 3024-25; Chicago & North Western Transportation
Co., 450 U.S. at 324-25, 101 S.Ct. at 1133-34; San Diego Building
Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 247, 79 S.Ct. 773, 780,
3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959).* Applying this principle, we conclude that
claims relating to smoking and health that result in liability for
noncompliance with warning, advertisement, and promotion
obligations other than those prescribed in the Act have the effect
of tipping the Act’s balance of purposes and therefore actually
conflict with the Act.

Based on the foregoing, we hoid that the Act preempts those
state law damage actions relating to smoking and health that
chailenge either the adequacy of the warning on cigarette packages’
or the propriety of a party’s actions with respect to the advertising
and promotion of cigarettes. We further hold that where the
success of a state law damage claim necessarily depends on the
assertion that a party bore the duty to provide a warning to
consumers in addition to the warning Congress has required on
cigarette packages, such claims are preempted as conflicting with
the Act.

6. The district court noted that Garmon involved claims based on state
statutes, rather than state common iaw. This distinction does not undermine
the significance of Garmon. As the appellants argue, the central inquiry should
be whether a state statute or common law rule providing for civil liability is
regulatory in its effect. The Garmon Court ruled that a claim for compensation
has a regulatory nature and therefore may be preempted by a federal regulatory
scheme. Garmon, 359 U.S. at 247-48, 79 S.Ct. at 780-81.

7. Accord Roysdon, at 1190-91 (1985); Roysdon, slip op. at 3 (Dec. 11,
1985).

18a

Appendix D

As appellants’ counsel conceded at oral argument, it is not
necessary at this stage of the litigation for us to identify which

of the Cipollones’ claims are preempted by the Act. Under 28.

U.S.C. § 1292(b), we are obliged to address the order that was
certified rather than the controlling question of law framed by
the district court. Johnson v. Alldredge, 488 F.2d 820, 822-23
(3d Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 882, 95 S.Ct. 148, 42 L.Ed.2d
122 (1974); see, e.g., Murphy v. Heppenstail Co., 635 F.2d 233,
235 n. 1 (3d Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1142, 102 S.Ct.
999, 71 L.Ed.2d 293 (1982). The district court’s statement of the
controlling issue appears to call for a definitive ruling on each
of the Cipollones’ claims. Nevertheless, we need only decide
whether the district court’s ruling striking appellants’ preemption
defenses should be affirmed or reversed.’ Two principles counsel

8. Section 1292(b) provides:

When a district judge, in making in a civil action an order
not otherwise appealable under this section, shall be of the
opinion that such order involves a controlling question of —
law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of
opinion and that an immediate appeal from the order may
materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation,
he shall so state in writing in such order. The Court of Appeals
which would have jurisdiction of an appeal of such action
may thereupon, in its discretion, permit an appeal to be taken
from such order, if application is made to it within ten days
after the entry of the order: Provided, however, That
application for an appeal hereunder shall not stay proceedings
in the district court unless the district judge or the Court of
Appeals or a judge thereof shall so order.

9. In Johnson, we stated that section 1292(b) ‘‘does not speak of the court
of appeals deciding a question certified by the disirict court. . . Since under
the clear terms of section 1292(b), we are called upon not to answer the question
certified but to decide an appeal, we do not find ourselves bound by the District
Judge’s statement of the issue.’’ 488 F.2d at 822-23.

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us to take such an approach. First, a court should avoid a holding
of preemption that is premised on a merely potential conflict
between state and federal law. See Rice v. Norman Williams Co..,
458 U.S. 654, 659, 102 S.Ct. 3294, 3298, 73 L.Ed.2d 1042 (1982).
In addition, a court should not grant a motion to strike a defense
unless the insufficiency of the defense is ‘‘clearly apparent.’’ See
May Department Stores Co. v. First Hartford Corp., 435 F.Supp.
849, 855 (D.Conn. 1977); Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and
Procedure § 1381, at 802 (1969). The underpinning of this principle
rests on a concern that a court should restrain from evaluating
the merits of a defense where, as here, the factual background
for a case is largely undeveloped. See id. at 800-02.

Mindful of both of these principles, we deem it appropriate
to reverse the order of the district court and remand the case for
further development of the claims and theories of the parties.
The district court will then be in a position to make informed
and definitive rulings on which claims then in contention are
preempted.

III.

For the foregoing reasons, we will reverse the order of the
district court to the extent that it granted the Cipolliones’ motion
to strike appellants’ preemption defenses. We will also remand
the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

20a

APPENDIX E—OPINION OF THE UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT, DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

Rose CIPOLLONE and Antonio Cipollone,
Plaintiffs,
Vv.

LIGGETT GROUP, INC., Philip Morris Incorporated, and
Loew’s Theatres, Inc.,

Defendants.
Civ. A. No. 83-2864.

United States District Court,
D. New Jersey.

Sept. 20, 1984.
OPINION
SAROKIN, District Judge.
INTRODUCTION

Despite the growing evidence that cigarette smoking is indeed
hazardous to one’s health, as recognized in the warning mandated
by Congress, a legislative decision has been reached not to prohibit
it. Although that decision may be due in some measure to the
ongoing medical dispute as to the risks involved, it is predicated
to a large extent on economic considerations and the apparent
willingness of millions of persons to continue smoking despite
the known and unknown risks. Congress, in order to avoid another

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Appendix E

Prohibition, has decided to permit the manufacture and sale of
cigarettes to continue, but has attempted to assuage its critics by
regulating the industry and requiring it to affix a warning to each
package sold.

The legislative history of the Act here involved reflects a
candid concern for the economy of the entire country if cigarette
manufacturing were curtailed or eliminated. One would hope that
those fiscal considerations were weighed against the costs of illness
and death caused by cigarette smoking as well as the moral
responsibility of protecting the young and future generations who
have not yet begun to smoke.

In any event, that branch of the government which is charged
with the responsibility of protecting the health and welfare of
our society has determined that the cigarette industry shall be
permitted to flourish after consideration of the consequences of
permitting it to do so. This case presents the issue of whether
cigarette manufacturers can be subjected to tort liability, if they
have complied with the federal warning requirement: ‘‘Warning:
The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking
Is Dangerous to Your Health.’’ In effect, the cigarette industry
argues that compliance immunizes it from liability to anyone who
has chosen to smoke cigarettes notwithstanding the warning, that
the federal legislation has created an irrebutable presumption that
the risk of injury has been assumed by the consumer. This court
rejects that contention.

The clear purpose of the federal legislation was to establish
a uniform warning which would prevail throughout the country.
By so doing, cigarette manufacturers would not be subjected to
varying requirements from state to state. However, the existence
of the present federally mandated warning does not prevent an

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Appendix E

individual from claiming that the risks of smoking are greater
than the warning indicates, and that therefore such warning is
inadequate. The court recognizes that it will be extremely difficult
for a plaintiff to prove that the present warning is inadequate
to inform of the dangers, whatever they may be. However, the
difficulty of proof cannot preclude the opportunity to be heard,
and affording that opportunity will not undermine the purposes
of the Act.

Defendants’ argument that the statute was intended to
foreclose such claims is not borne out by either the language or
legislative history of the Act. Simply stated, defendants contend
that a cigarette manufacturer who utilizes the federal warning

cannot be held liable in tort. Just as simply, that statement could °

have been incorporated into the statute, if that were the intention,
but it was not. Before this court or any other court so cavalierly
rejects fundamental principles of the common law, it should
demand a much more definitive statement from Congress.

The information regarding disease from smoking is growing.
Medicai and scientific opinion is divided. The impact on the
economy is a factor considered by Congress and may well have
caused a compromise in the content of the warning. Even
Congress, which once declared that cigarette smoking ‘‘may be’’
hazardous, now finds that it ‘‘is’’ hazardous. This court believes
that an individual injured while the warning was that cigarette
smoking ‘‘may be hazardous to your health’’ would have been
able to prevail if he or she was able to prove that ‘“‘cigarette
smoking is [was] hazardous to your health.’’ Today even some
greater warning may be appropriate, and variations are now being
considered. In any event, no one should be deprived by virtue
of congressional compromise of the opportunity of proving that
contention absent a clear showing that Congress intended that
they be so precluded.

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Appendix E

There are further claims asserted by plaintiff which likewise
deserve their day in court. Thus, even if utilizing the federal
warning relieves cigarette manufacturers of liability for failure
to warn, the question remains whether they can be held liable
for collateral efforts to neutralize or negate the effects of the
warning. Efforts to convince the public that the risks do not exist
or that they are minimal or unsupported by medical or scientific
data may in and of themselves give rise to a cause of action; indeed
they may even constitute a violation of the very statute which
defendants brandish as a shield. Whether the present federally
mandated warning is adequate and whether defendants have
wrongfully attempted to neutralize that warning are thus issues
which survive the federal statute and are not preempted by it.

Certainly, as in all such cases, the federal standard is strong
evidence of the adequacy of the warning, but it is not conclusive.
The federal government regulates many industries, not least of
which is the ethical drug industry. The fact that the safety, efficacy,
literature and warnings pertaining to drugs are reviewed and
approved by the government pursuant to the authority of Congress
has never relieved drug manufacturers of liability in tort if the
risks exceeded the warnings given. These cases, among others,
recognize that even the federal government is fallible. The fact
that it finds a product safe or a warning adequate does not
necessarily make it so. The private citizen should not be deprived
of the opportunity to establish such fallibility and vindicate his
or her rights to recover for injuries sustained if supported by
competent proofs.

THE COMPLAINT

Plaintiff Rose Cipollone is dying of lung cancer. She brings
this products liability action against three cigarette companies,

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Appendix E

alleging that they are responsible for her current state. Her
fourteen-count complaint sounds in strict liability (Counts 2, 3
and 9), negligence (Counts 4 and 5), intentional tort (Counts 6
and 8) and breach of warranty (Count 7). She claims that
defendants have produced an unsafe and defective product (Counts
2 and 7), the risk of which outweighs its utility (Count 2), but
have negligently (Count 4) or intentionally (Count 8) failed
adequately to warn consumers of the hazards associated with ~
cigarette smoking. See also Count 3 (strict liability for failure
to warn). Indeed, she contends, defendants have negligently (Count
5) or intentionally (Count 6) advertised their products so as to
neutralize and render ineffective those warnings actually given,
warnings which are made meaningless in any event by the addicitive
qualities of cigarettes (Count 9).'

Defendants have each answered, asserting as an affirmative
defense, inter alia, that plaintiff’s claims are preempted by the
Federal Cigarette Labeling Act, as amended by the Public Health
Cigarette Smoking Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1331 et seq. Plaintiff has
moved to strike such defense. With the cross-motion of defendant
Loew’s Theatres, Inc. for judgment on the pleadings, the parties
are now before the court on this difficult issue.

The Act
The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act

Originally enacted in 1965, the Federal Cigarette Labeling
and Advertising Act (‘‘the Act’’) followed a report of the Surgeon

1. Counts 10 through 13 contain allegations concerning the identities of
various defendants. Count 14 comprises plaintiff Antonio Cipollone’s claim
for ‘‘loss of comfort, companionship and consortium. . .’’

——_"

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Appendix E

General of the United States concluding that cigarette smoking
comprised a significant health hazard to Americans, warranting
remedial action by Congress. As amended in 1970, the Act sets
forth the following statement of policy:

It is the policy of the Congress, and the purpose
of this chapter, to establish a comprehensive
federal program to deal with cigarette labeling and
advertising with respect to any relaticnship between
smoking and health, whereby—

(1) the public may be adequately informed that
cigarette smoking may be hazardous to health by
inclusion of a warning to that effect on each
package of cigarettes; and

(2) commerce and the national economy may be
(A) protected to the maximum extent consistent
with this aeclared policy and (B) not impeded by
diverse, nonuniform, and confusing cigarette —
labeling and advertising regulations with respect
to any relationship between smoking and health.

15 U.S.C. § 1331. In order to effectuate these purposes, Congress
provided that

It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture,
import, or package for sale or distribution within
the United States any cigarettes the package of
which fails to bear the following statement:
‘*Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined
That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your
Health.’’ Such statement shall be located in a

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Appendix E

conspicuous place on every cigarette package, and |
shall appear in conspicuous and legible type in |
contrast by typograph, layout, or color with other

printed matter on the package.

15 U.S.C. § 1333. The Federal Trade Commission was given the
authority to regulate cigarette advertising, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1335-36,
and the district courts jurisdiction to enjoin violations of the Act.
15 U.S.C. § 1339. A minimal criminal penalty was also provided.
15 U.S.C. § 1338.

Congress included within the Act a provision regarding
preemption, and it is this provision which is now before the court |
for interpretation and application. Congress stated: |

(a) No statement relating to smoking and health,
other than the statement required by section 1333
of this title, shall be required on any cigarette
package.

(b) No requirement or prohibition based on
smoking and health shall be imposed under State
law with respect to the advertising or promotion
of any cigarettes the packages of which are labelled
in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.

15 U.S.C. § 1334. Plaintiff concedes that this section prohibits
states from regulating cigarette packaging, and cigarette advertising
by, for example, requiring a warning other than that set forth
in the Act. She argues, however, that this provision does not
preempt state common law claims such as those asserted by
plaintiff.

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Appendix E
Preemption

‘*The Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which
shall be made in Pursuance thereof . . . shall be the supreme Law
of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
notwithstanding.’’ U.S. Const., Art. VI, cl. 2. From this simple
mandate springs the doctrine of preemption, as first stated by
Chief Justice Marshall in Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.)
1, 6 L.Ed. 23 (1824):

The nullity of any act, inconsistent with the
Constitution, is produced by the declaration, that
the Constitution is the supreme law. The
appropriate application of that part of the clause
which confers the same supremacy on laws and
treaties, is to such acts of the state legislatures as
do not transcend their powers, but though enacted
in the execution of acknowledged state powers,
interfere with, or are contrary to, the laws of
Congress, made in pursuance of the Constitution,
or some treaty made under the authority of the
United States. In every case, the act of Congress,
or the treaty, is supreme; and the law of the state
though enacted in the exercise of powers not
controverted, must yield to it.

22 U.S. at 210-11. See also Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n.
v. De La Cuesta, 458 U.S. 141, 152, 102 S.Ct. 3014, 3022, 73
L.Ed.2d 664 (1982) (preemption doctrine has its roots in the
Supremacy Clause of the Constitution).

From Gibbons v. Ogden on, courts, have struggled with the

28a

Appendix E

question of whether federal law preempts state action. The problem
is ‘‘largely one of statutory construction,’’ and therefore ‘‘cannot
be reduced to general formulas.’’ L. Tribe, American
Constitutional Law at 377 (1978). However, certain principles are
clear. First, federal law may expressly preempt state law. Pacific
Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation &
Development Commission, 461 U.S. 190, 103 S.Ct. 1713, 1722,
75 L.Ed.2d 752 (1983), citing Jones v. Rath Packing Co., 430
U.S. 519, 525, 97 S.Ct. 1305, 1309, 51 L.Ed.2d 604 (1977). Absent
express preemption, federal law may nonetheless have an implied
preemptive effect if Congres so intended, and indicated such intent
by ‘‘occupying the field’’ in a particular area. Thus

Congress’ intent to supercede state law altogether
may be found from a “‘scheme of federal regulation
SO pervasive as to make reasonable the inference
that Congress left no room to supplement it,’’
“*because the Act of Congress may touch a field
in which the federal interest is so dominant that
the federal system will be assumed to preclude
enforcement of state laws on the same subject,’’
or because ‘‘the objects sought to be obtained by
the federal law and the character of obligations
imposed by it may reveal the same purpose.”’

Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n v. De La Cuesta, supra,
458 U.S. at 153, 102 S.Ct. at 3022; Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator
Corp., 331-U.S. 218, 230, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 1152, 91 L.Ed. 1447
(1947); cited in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy
Resources Conservation & Development Commission, supra, 103
S.Ct. at 1722. And, even if Congress has not entirely displaced
state regulation over the matter in question, state law may
nonetheless be preempted to the extent that it actually conflicts

29a

Appendix E

with the federal law. Such conflict occurs where ‘‘compliance with
both federal and state regulations is a physical possibility,’ Florida
Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 142-43,
83 S.Ct. 1210, 1217, 10 L.Ed.2d 248 (1963), or where state law
‘“‘stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of
the full purposes and objectives of Congress.’’ Hines v. Davidowitz,
312 U.S. 52, 67, 61 S.Ct. 399, 404, 85 L.Ed. 581 (1941). See
generally Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., __. U.S. ___., 104
S.Ct. 615, 621, 78 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984); Pacific Gas & Electric Co.,
supra, 103 S.Ct. at 1722; Fidelity Federal Saving & Loan Ass’n,
supra, 458 US. at 153, 102 S.Ct. at 3022. Together, these principles
seek to accommodate the competing interests engendered by
appropriate national regulation and the legitimate exercise of state
power. Underlying any discussion of preemption, therefore, is the
structural foundation of a federal system, in which state and federal
regulation must co-exist. The preservation of that system requires
a presumption “‘that Congress did not intend to displace state law’’,
Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U.S. 725, 746, 101 S.Ct. 2114, 2129,
68 L.Ed.2d 576 (1981), quoting Rice v. Sante Fe Elevator Corp.,
supra, 331 U.S. at 230, 67 S.Ct. at 1152; ‘“‘preemption of state
law by federal statute or regulation is not favored ‘in the absence
of persuasiv2 reasons—either that the nature of the regulated subject
matter perrnits no other conclusion, or that the Congress has
unmistakably so ordained.’ ’’ Commonwealth Edison Co. v.
Montana, 453 U.S. 609, 634, 101 S.Ct. 2946, 2962, 69 L.Ed.2d
884 (1981), quoting Chicago & North Western Transp. Co. v. Kalo
Brick & Tile Co., 450 U.S. 311, 317, 101 S.Ct. 1124, 1130, 67
L.Ed.2d 258 (1981); Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, supra, 373
U.S. at 142, 83 S.Ct. at 1217. Moreover, state law should be
suspended ‘‘only to the extent of actual conflict with the scheme
of federal regulation.’’ Jn re Quanta Resources Corp., 739 F.2d
912 at 915 (3d Cir. 1984), citing Stellwagen v. Clum, 245 U.S.
605, 613, 38 S.Ct. 215, 217, 62 L.Ed. 507 (1918).

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Appendix E

Here, the preemption issues arises in the context of a claim
that the Federal Cigarette Labeling Act preempts the state common
law claims asserted by plaintiff. There is no question, as defendants
argue, that common law is as susceptible of preemption as are
state statutes or regulations for, as the Supreme Court has stated,

regulation can be as effectively exerted through
an award of damages as through some form of
preventive relief. The obligation to pay
compensation can be, indeed is designed to be a
potent method of governing conduct and
controlling policy. Even the States’ salutary effort
to redress private wrongs or grant compensation
for past harm cannot be exerted to regulate
activities that are potentially subject to the exclusive
federal regulatory scheme.

San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236,
247, 79 S.Ct. 773, 780, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959).? See also Sperry
v. Florida, 373 U.S. 379, 403, 83 S.Ct. 1322, 1335, 10 L.Ed.2d
428 (1963) (‘‘The authority of Congress is no less when the state
power it displaces would otherwise have been exercised by the
state judiciary rather than by the state legislature.’’) Hence, courts
have held that federal statutes have preempted state common law
claims in many areas. See e.g., Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co. v.
Hall, 453 U.S. 571, 582-84, 101 S.Ct. 2925, 2932-33, 69 L.Ed.2d
856 (1981) (Natural Gas Act preempts calculation of damages
under state common law of contract); Kalo Brick, supra, 450 U.S.

2. It should be noted that the Garmon case did not involve the preemption
of state common law claims, since the state courts had relied on various state
statutory provisions in reaching the applicable decisions. 359 U.S. at 239, 79
S.Ct. at 776.

3la

Appendix E

at 317-32, 101 S.Ct. at 1130-37 (Interstate Commerce Act
regulation of abandonment of service preempts state tort claim);
Old Dominion Branch No. 496, National Association of Letter
Carriers v. Austin, 418 U.S. 264, 270-73, 94 S.Ct. 2770, 2774-75,
41 L.Ed.2d 745 (1974) (NLRA preempts certain state libel claims);
Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co., 376 U.S. 225, 229-33, 84
S.Ct. 784, 787-89, 11 L.Ed.2d 661 (1964) (federal patent and
copyright laws preempt state actions for unfair competition, at
least in part); Hodges v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway
Co., 728 F.2d 414, 416-17 (10th Cir. 1984) (Railway Labor Act
preempts state common law claim for wrongful discharge); Harper
& Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises, 723 F.2d 195,
199-201 (2d Cir. 1983) (Copyright Act preempts state common
law claims for conversion and interference with contract); Howard
v. Uniroyal, Inc., 719 F.2d 1552 (11th Cir. 1983) (Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 preempts state contract claim); Viestenz v. Fleming
Companies, Inc., 681 F.2d 699, 701-04 (10th Cir.), cert. denied,
459 U.S. 972, 103 S.Ct. 303, 74 L.Ed.2d 284 (1982) (National
Labor Relations Act preempts state actions for wrongful discharge '
and intentional infliction of emotional distress arising out of labor
context); Hasbrouck v. Sheet Metal Workers Local 232, 586 F.2d
691, 694 (9th Cir. 1978) (National Labor Relations Act preempts
state claims of defamation and business disparagement); City of
Chicago v. General Motors Corp., 467 F.2d 1262, 1265 (7th Cir.
1972 (National Emissions Standard Act preempts state products
liability based upon automobile pollution); Zittrouer v. Uarco
Inc. Group Benefit Plan, 582 F.Supp. 1471, 1477 (N.D. Ga. 1984)
(ERISA preempts state tort claim for bad faith handling of benefits
claim); Delisi v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 580 F.Supp. 1572 -
(ERISA and NLRA preempt state common law claim for wrongful
discharge); Salcedo v. Norfolk & Western Railway Co., 572
F.Supp. 286, 288 (E.D. Mich. 1982) (Railway Labor Act preempts
state law claims for emotional distress and intentional interference

32a

Appendix E

with contractual relations); Videotronics, Inc. v. Bend Electronics,
564 F.Supp. 1471, 1476-77 (D.Nev. 1983) (Copyright Act preempts
state common law claims of misappropriation and trade secret
violations); Shaw v. International Ass’n of Machinists & Aerospace
Workers Pension Fund, 563 F.Supp. 653, 658-59 (C.D. Calif.
1983) (ERISA preempts certain state common law claims for
breach of contract), citing Lafferty v. Solar Turbines International,
666 F.2d 408 (9th Cir. 1982); Huth v. B.P. Oil, Inc., 555 F.Supp.
191, 194 (D.Md. 1983) (Petroleum Marketing Practices Act
preempts conflicting state common law claims), citing, e.g., Meyer
v. Amerada Hess Corp., 541 F.Supp. 321, 332 (D.N.J. 1982)
(same); State of North Dakota v. Merchants National Bank and
Trust Co., 466 F.Supp. 953 (D.N.D. 1979) (federal banking law
preempts state common law of unfair competition). See also City
of Milwaukee v. Illinois, 451 U.S. 304, 101 S.Ct. 1784, 68 L.Ed.2d
114 (1981) (federal statute preempts federal common law).
However, there remains a presumption against the preemption
of state common law, in particular, since such law is often the
result of many generations of judicial development, see, e.z.,
Iconco v. Jensen Construction Co., 622 F.2d 1291, 1296 (8th Cir.
1980), and, more importantly, concerns areas ‘‘traditionally
regarded as within the scope of state superintendence.’’ Florida
Avocado Growers v. Paul, supra, 373 U.S. at 144, 83 S.Ct. at
1218. See also Pacific Gas & Electric Co., supra, 103 S.Ct. at
1723, quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., supra, 331i U.S.
at 230, 67 S.Ct. at 1152 (‘‘Congress legislated here in a field which
the States have traditionally occupied . . . so we start with the
assumption that the historic police powers of the States were not
to be superseded by the Federal Act unless that was the clear and
manifest purpose of Congress.’’); Milwaukee v. Illinois, supra,
451 U.S. at 316-17, 101 S.Ct. at 1792, citing Jones v. Rath Packing
Co., 430 U.S. at 525, 97 S.Ct. at 1309. See generally Tribe, supra,
§ 6-25 at 385-86. Torts, such as those alleged here, are precisely

33a
Appendix E

the sort of legal action that falls within the scope of a state’s
historical and prototypical powers. See, e.g., Ferebee v. Chevron
Chemical Co., 736 F.2d 1529, 1542 (D.C. Cir. 1984); Feldman
v. Lederle Laboratories, 97 N.J. 429, 462, 479 A.2d 374 (Sup.Ct.
of N.J. 1984).’ The presumption against preemption of these causes
of action is strengthened where preemption would leave a putative
plaintiff without adequate remedy for violation of his or her state
created rights. See Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., supra, 104
S.Ct. at 626. See also id. at 629 (‘‘it is inconceivable that Congress

3. The cases involving labor law are instructive on this point. Generally,
labor relations are a federal concern and, state laws conflicting with the NLRA
are preempted. See, e.g., San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, supra,
359 U.S. at 239-45, 79 S.Ct. at 776-79. However, the Supreme Court has carefully
tailored the resulting preemption doctrine to take cognizance of the activities
in which states have a ‘“‘compelling . . .interest,’’ id. at 247, 79 S.Ct. at 781,
or which concern matters ‘‘so deeply rooted in local feeling or responsibility
that, in the absence of compelling Congressional direction, we could not infer
that Congress had deprived the States of the power to act.”” /d. at 244, 79 S.Ct.
at 779. Hence, for example, the Court has carved out exceptions to the. general
preemption doctrine for ‘‘conduct marked by violence and imminent threats
to the public order,”’ id. at 247, 79 S.Ct. at 781 (citing cases) for certain
defamation actions, Old Dominion Branch No. 496, National Ass’n of Letter
Carriers, supra, 418 U.S. at 271-73, 94 S.Ct. 2770 at 2774-75, 41 L.Ed.2d 745,
citing Linn v. Plant Guard Workers, 383 U.S. 53, 86 S.Ct. 657, 15 L.Ed.2d
582 (1966) (allowing state defamation actions to the extent that published
statements are made with knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard for
the truth), for actions for intentional infliction of emotion distress, Farmer v.
United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, Local 25, 430 U.S.
290, 97 S.Ct. 1056, 51 L.Ed.2d 338 (1977), and for trespass actions. Sears,
Roebuck & Co. v. San Diego County District Council of Carpenters, 436 U.S.
180, 98 S.Ct. 1745, 56 L.Ed.2d 209 (1978). In each of these cases, the Court
found the conduct addressed by state law to be beyond the scope of the NLRA,
and thus of only peripheral concern to federal purposes, to be of a deeply felt
concern of the states, and to pose little risk of state interference with the Act.
See e.g., Farmer, supra, 430 U.S. at 298, 97 S.Ct. at 1062.

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Appendix E

intended to leave victims with no remedy at all’’ (Blackmun, J.,
dissenting). However, any application of these principles inevitably
requires the interpretation of a statute. See Note, Preemption as
a Preferential Ground: A New Canon of Construction, 12
Stanf.L.Rev. 208, 208-210 (1959). It is to such interpretation that
the court now turns.

DISCUSSION
A. Express Preemption

The court first addresses the question of whether the common
law causes of action here asserted by plaintiff are expressly
preempted by the Act. Congress has preempted certain state action
by the terms of 15 U.S.C. § 1334, which is entitled ‘‘Preemption,”’
and does not allow any ‘‘statement relating to smoking and health,
other than the statement required by Section 1333 .. .’’ to be
‘“*required on any cigarette package.’’ 15 U.S.C. -§ 1334(a)
(emphasis added). It likewise does not permit any ‘‘requirement
or prohibition based on smoking or health’’ to be ‘imposed under
State law with respect to the advertising or promotion of any
cigarettes the packages of which are labeled in conformity with
the provisions of this chapter.’’ 15 U.S.C. § 1334(b) (emphasis
added). Indeed, plaintiff concedes that the Act ‘“‘precludes state
and government regu/ation of labeling and advertising.’’ Plaintiff’s
Brief (2/24/84) at 4. See also Id. at 8, 18, 29. Nonetheless she
argues that her claims, should they succeed, will not constitute
regulation of cigarette labeling or advertising, but merely
compensation for the harmful effects of smoking and thus, that
they are not preempted. In support of this argument is the language
of the statute, which does not, in so many words, prohibit suits
against cigarette companies based upon state common law.
Plaintiff argues, and the court agrees, that had Congress wished

TF

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Appendix E
to extinguish state causes of action, it could easily have done so.

Defendants contend that, as state tort law has a clear
regulatory effect, it falls within the language of § 1334, and indeed
might well act so as to undermine the Act’s purposes of creating
uniformity of effective cigarette labeling and advertising, and of
assuring the continued viability of the tobacco industry. Like
plaintiff, defendants argue based upon what does not appear in
the Act, stating that had Congress wished to allow state common
law causes of action to survive, it would have included a savings
clause. Indeed, defendants complement their superb briefing with
a thorough Appendix, including examples of fifty such clauses
appearing in federal acts.

The court, however, is persuaded that, on its face, the Act
does not explicitly preempt state common law claims, and that
determination of the question of whether preemption was intended
requires an analysis of the legislative history of the Act. It is true,
as defendants argue, that Congress could have included a savings
clause within the Act, as it did, for example, in the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. § 653(b)(4). It did not.
Nor, however, did Congress explicitly include state common law
within the Act’s preemption provision, as it did, for example,
in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29
U.S.C. § 1144(c)(1).* The question is thus not one that cai be

4. ERISA’s preemption clause states that

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the
provisions of this subchapter and subchapter III of this
chapter shall supersede any and all state laws insofar as they
may now or hereafter relate to any employee benefit plan
described in section 1003(a) of this title. .

(Cont'd)

36a

Appendix E

resolved through examining the expansiveness of the preemption

(Cont’d)
29 U.S.C. § 1144(a). Later, it makes clear that

For- purposes of this section:

(1) The term ‘‘State law’’ includes all laws, decisions, rules,
regulations, or other State action having the effect of law,
of any State. .

29 U.S.C. § 1144(c)(1) (emphasis added). See generally Dependahi v. Falstaff
Brewing Corp., 653 F.2d 1208, 1214-16 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 968,
102 S.Ct. 512, 70 L.Ed.2d 384 (1981). Similar provisions, specifically preempting
state common law appear in other statutes as well, pertaining to both substantive,
see, e.g., 12 U.S.C. § 1715z-17(d), 1715z-18(c); 12 U.S.C. § 2259; 17 U.S.C.
§ 301(a); 25 U.S.C. §§ 1723(a(1), 1753(d) (preemption of common law fraud
claims only), and procedural provisions. See, e.g., 5 U.S.C. §§ 7118(a)(6),
$124(b)(2); 22 U.S.C. § 4116(f); 33 U.S.C. § 923(a); 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (state
common law procedures may be used in criminal cases to the exient consistent
with the Constitution and laws of the United States). See also 25 U.S.C. § 1722(d)
(defining ‘‘laws of the State’’ as including common iaw for purposes of the
Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980). Hence, it is clear that, just as
Congress could easily have provided a savings clause, so could it easily have
explicitly preempted state common law. Indeed, in certain cases it did both.
See, e.g., 17 U.S.C. § 301; 25 U.S.C. § 1723(a)(1), 1753(d). Here, it did neither.

Moreover, to argue from the non-existence of a savings clause is not
particularly persuasive, and flies in the face of the principle that ‘‘a statute
should not be considered in derogation of the common law unless it expressly
sO states or the result is imperatively required from the nature of the enactment.’’
Bauers v. Heisel, 361 F.2d 581, 587 (3d Cir. 1966) (en banc), cert. denied, 386
U.S. 1021, 87 S.Ct. 1367, 18 L.Ed.2d 457 (1967). See also Checkrite Petroleum,
Inc. v. Amoco Oil Co., 678 F.2d 5, 8 (2d Cir. 1982) (citing cases). Indeed,
one scholar has pointed out that the proper negative inference in cases such
as these is precisely the opposite of that which defendants seek to have the court
draw: ‘*Because statutes in derogation of the common law are disfavored, the
maxim /of expressio unius est exclusio aiterius] has been extensively employed
to avoid repeai of the common law .. .’’ Sands, 2A Sutherland Statutory
Construction § 47.24, at 128 (1973) (emphasis added).

37a

Appendix E
provision of the Act, on its face.°

Nor does the court find it sufficiently clear that state tort
law is encompassed within the terms ‘‘requirement or pichibition’’
utilized in § 1334 to be expressly preempted by the Act. Whethe:
‘or not the effect of such New Jersey tort law is a conflict with
the Act rendering such state law impliedly preempted, a matter
discussed in some detail, infra at 1166-1170, the court cannot find
the terms ‘‘requirement or prohibition’’ expressly to abolish
common law remedies such as those sought by plaintiff. It is true

5. Indeed, even where savings clauses appear, they have often been narrowly
construed so as to effectuate the purposes of a particular congressional enactment.
See, e.g., People of the State of Illinois v. City of Milwaukee, 731 F.2d 403,
413-14 (7th Cir. 1984) (narrowly construing savings clause in Federal Water
Pollution Control Act); American Progressive Life and Health Insurance Co.
of New York v. Corcoran, 715 F.2d 784, 786-87 (2d Cir. 1983) (narrowly
construing savings clause regarding insurance in ERISA); Ventura County v.
Gulf Oil Corp., 601 F.2d 1080, 1084 (9th Cir. 1979) (narrowly construing savings
clause in Mineral Lands Leasing Act); Great Western United Corp. v. Kidwell,
577 F.2d 1256, 1274-81 (Sth Cir. 1978) (narrowly construing jurisdictional savings
clause in Securities Exchange Act of 1934); National Ass’n of Regulatory Utilities
Commissioners of Coleman, 542 F.2d 11, 13-15 (3d Cir. 1976) (narrowly
construing savings clause in Federal Railroad Safety Act). See also Head v.
New Mexico Board of Examiners, 374 U.S. 424, 444, 83 S.Ct. 1759, 1770, 10
L.Ed.2d 983 (1967) (Brennan, '., concurring) (a general savings clause ‘‘does
not resolve specific problems. . .but its inclusion in the statute plainly is
inconsistent with congressionai displacement of the state statute unless a finding
of that meaning is unavoidable’’), cited in Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc. v. City
of Burbank, 457 F.2d 667, 675 (9th Cir. 1972) (finding of preemption
‘‘unavoidable’’ under Federal Aviation Act), aff’d, 411 U.S. 624, 93 S.Ct. 1854,
36 L.Ed.2d 547 (1973). See generally, Note, supra, 12 Stanf.L.Rev. at 211-15
(courts have paid ‘‘slight attention’’ to savings clauses); Sands, supra, § 47.24
at 128 (where ‘‘the policy and purpose of the statute indicate that the common
law was intended to be superseded, and the wording of the statute is so complete
that it reasonably appears to be exclusive’’ statute may preempt the common law).

38a

Appendix E

that, as a secondary effect, tort actions may have some regulatory
effect; this occurs because the primary and unquestionable effect
of a finding of tort liability is to shift the ‘‘burden of losses’’
to ‘‘those who are in a position to either control the danger or
make an equitable distribution of the losses when they do occur.”’
Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors, Inc., 32 N.J. 358, 579, 161
A.2d 69 (1960). Indeed, compensation is the very purpose of tort
liability in this state and elsewhere. See, e.g., O’Brien v. Muskin
Corp., 94N.J. 169, 179, 463 A.2d 298 (1983); Michalko v. Cooke
Color & Chemical Corp., 91 N.J. 386, 398, 401 A.2d 179 (1982);
Beshada v. Johns-Manville Product Corp., 90 N.J. 191, 205-06,
209, 447 A.2d 539 (1982); Suter v. San Angelo Foundry & Machine
Co., 81 N.J. 150, 173, 406 A.2d 140 (1979) (‘‘Strict liability . . . is
but an attempt to minimize the costs of accidents and to consider
who should bear those costs.’’); Santor v. A & M Karagheusian,
Inc., 44.N.J. 52, 65, 207 A.2d 305 (1965) (purpose of tort liability
‘*is to insure that the cost of injuries or damage. . . resulting
from defective products . . .is borne by the makers of the products
who put them in the channels of trade, rather than by the injured
or damaged persons who ordinarily are powerless to protect
themselves.’’) See also Cinnaminson Township Board of Education
v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 552 F.Supp. 855, 857 (D.N.J. 1982), quoting
Ramirez v. Amsted Industries, Inc., 86 N.J. 332, 350, 431 A.2d
811 (1981) (‘‘. . . this court has long recognized the significance
of the social policy of risk-spreading in establishing the
manufacturer’s duty to the product user under the rapidly
expanding principles of strict liability in tort.’’) See generally
Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, Inc., 59 Cal.2d 57, 27
Cal.Rptr. 697, 701, 377 P.2d 897 (1962) (citing authorities); Prosser
and Keeton, The Law of Torts § 1 at 5, § 4 at 20 (1984); Harper
and James, The Law of Torts § 13.2 at 762-63 (1965). As
defendants correctly contend, the imposition of tort liability may
as a consequence, have a regulatory impact. Indeed, one purpose

39a

Appendix E

of products liability law is ‘‘to motivate individuals in the context
of commercial enterprise to invest in safety.’’ Michalko, supra,
91 N.J. at 398, 401 n. 4, 451 A.2¢ 179; Beshada, supra, 90 N.J.
at 206-07, 447 A.2d 539. See also Prosser and Keeton, supra,
§ 4 at 25-26. Whether that regulatory impact conflicts with the
purposes of the Act is a matter of implied preemption, and will
be discussed later. Whether such impact comprises regulation,
that is, creates a ‘‘requirement or prohibition,”’ raises the question
of express preemption.

The court finds that it does not. Regulation implies that
certain behavior be absolutely required or prohibited: thus, one
may not run a red light, or under the Act, fail to produce a cigarette
package without the warning required by § 1333, without risking
criminal liability or injunctive sanctions. Such behavior is
prohibited and, in that sense, regulated. Similarly, were the New
Jersey Legislature to mandate that a different warning be placed
on cigarette packages, it would be imposing a requirement and,
in that sense, regulating; such statute would, of course, be expressly
preempted by the Act. Tort liability, however, merely ‘‘motivates’’
a person or business entity to act or refrain from acting by creating
certain financial incentives; failing to do so, however, may or
may not subject one to recurrent tort liability, and cannot subject
one to an injunction or to criminal penalties in the common law
context.* Hence, the producer of a defective produce, who has

6. The federal courts have long held that there is no federal common law

,of crimes, see, e.g., United States v. Best, 573 F.2d 1095, 1101 (9th Cir. 1978),
citing Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 263, 72 S.Ct. 240, 249, 96
L.Ed. 288 (1952); United States v. Coolidge, 14 U.S. (1 Wheat.), 415, 4 L.Ed.
124 (1816); United States v. Hudson, 11 U.S. (7 Cranch) 32, 3 L.Ed. 259 (1812).
See also United States v. Berrigan, 482 F.2d 171, 185 (3d Cir. 1973); Levy v.
Parker, 478 F.2d 772, 796 and n. 35 (3d Cir. 1973), rev’d on other grounds,
(Cont'd)

40a

Appendix E

been found liable in tort is put to a choice: it may avoid the risk
of future liability by remedying the defect in its product or, at
the extreme, by withdrawing such product from the market, or
it may confront such risk, hoping that future juries, acting in
light of different sets of facts, will find for it. Which course it
takes depends upon a complex combination of economics, morality
and psychology. In this sense, tort liability does not regulate at
ail; it merely creates some probability of changing the behavior
of those upon whom it imposes liability, and without dictating
the form of such change. See generally Ferebee v. Chevron
Chemical Co., supra, 636 F.2d at 1541. What that probability
is, and the form such behavioral change would take, provides
a starting point for an analysis of whether a conflict exists between
the imposition of state tort liability and federal legislation, here,
the Act. However, the differences between regulation and
motivation are such as to preclude a finding of express preemption.
As the one scholar who has explored this particuiar question has
written

Courts adjudicate prior misconduct and require
payment for injury. When a court imposes liability
for failure to adequately warn, no specific
‘statement relating to smoking and health’’ is
being required. The practical effect of this may
be that cigarette companies will choose to add an
addiction warning so as to avoid future liability.
A damages award, however, requires only payment

(Cont’d)

417 U.S. 733, 94 S.Ct. 2547, 41 L.Ed.2d 439 (1974), and New Jersey agrees.
N.J.S.A. 2C:1-5(a) (‘“‘Common law crimes are abolished and no conduct
constitutes an offense unless the offense is defined by this code or another statute
of this state.’’)

4la

Appendix E

—it is not an injunction requiring the defendant
to incorporate into its advertising a fixed legend
different from the federally required label. The
labeling acts do not prohibit a manufacturer from
warning of undisclosed health risks. The only
prohibition is against a state agency passing a law
requiring cigarette companies to use a different
label.

D. Garner, Cigarette Dependency and Civil Liability: A Modest
Proposal, 53 S.Cal.L.Rev. 1423, 1454 (1980) (footnote omitted).

The question of express preemption and the legal issues raised
thereby ought not, under the principles enunciated supra, at 8-16,
be resolved so as to displace traditional state common law remedies
unless Congress’ expression of its desire to do so is crystal clear.
Congress’ words reveal far less clarity: it did not expressly preempt
the common law claims asserted here.’

B. Implied Preemption

As discussed earlier, the fact that plaintiff’s common law
claims are not expressly preempted does not end this inquiry.

7. It should be noted that this section addresses only plaintiff’s claims
regarding failure to warn, Counts 3, 4 and 8, and deceptive advertising, Counts
5, 6 and 9. It does not address plaintiff’s risk-utility allegation, contained in
Count 2 and, to an extent, Count 7, of the complaint, because defendants do
not contend that such claim is expressly preempted, but only that it is impliedly
preempted as a result of conflict with the Act, Brief of Defendant Loew’s
Theatres, Inc. at 31-32, or because the Act has occupied the field. Jd. at 32-33.
Nor could defendants argue that this sort of claim has been expressly preempted,
for language of the Act addresses only cigarette package labelling, on the one
hand, 15 U.S.C. § 1334(a), and advertising or promotion, on the other. 15
U.S.C. § 1334(b).

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Appendix E

Rather, such claims may be impliedly preempted if Congress so
intended, and manifested such intent either by ‘‘occupying the
field,’’ or if plaintiff’s claims implicate state law which ‘‘actually
conflicts’? with the Act. The question of implied preemption
necessarily requires a careful examination of the legislative history
of the Act.

Defendants rest their implied preemption arguments on three
aspects of the legislative history of the Act. First, they state that
Congress made it absolutely clear that the Act was not meant
as a prohibition of cigarette manufacture, sale or use. Citing the
legislative history, defendants point to congressional concen with
the moral and economic effects of such a prohibition, as well
as to evidence that cigarette smoking actually emhances
psychological and social well-being. Second, defendants point to
Congress’ desire to enact a uniform national policy with respect
to the relationship betweer. smoking and health, in part im order
to protect the aforestated values. And third, at oral argument,
defendants contended that Congress intended that omly the
statement prescribed in § 1333 appear on cigarette package:s; thus,
they argue, no court may impose a greater duty to warn and,
indeed, no cigarette company may voluntarily utilize a diifferent
warning.

Plaintiff counters that the legislative history assumes the
continued existence of common law tort actions against ciigarette
companies, particularly in the area of products liability. Specific
passages indicate debate over the effect of the warning maindated
upon the defense of assumption of the risk but, plaintiff argues,
thus indicate an acceptance of the existence of the common law
suits in which such defense would be pled. Moreover, plaintiff
contends, Congress could not have intended, and did not intend,
to deprive prospective plaintiffs of the remedy at law here :sought.

43a

Appendix E

The parties support their contentions with persuasive statutory
authority and legislative history. Hence, defendants rely upon the
debate surrounding passage of the Act, noting that, despite the
call-to-action that ensued upon issuance of the Surgeon General’s
January 11, 1964 report entitled ‘‘Smoking and Health: Report
of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public
Health Services,’’ Congress chose a moderate course. Fearing the
intrusion on ‘‘our personal rights and liberties’’ of a prohibition
of cigarettes, Cigarette Labeling and Advertising: Hearings on
H.R. 2248, 3014, 4007, and 4249 Before the House Committee
on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 89th Cong., Ist Sess. 225
(1965) (statement of Emerson Foote, Chairman, National
Interagency Council on Smoking and Health), Congress rejected
the notion of, for example, an outright ban on manufacture and
sale. See also Hearings on H.R. 2248, supra, at 24 (statement
of Congressman Morris K. Udall (‘“The Constitution guarantees
us all these great freedoms including the freedom to abuse our
health and make fools of ourselves if we want to, and I do not
intend to deprive people of these great freedoms.’’); Hearings
on H.R. 643, 1237. 3055, 6543 Before the House Committee on
Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 91st Cong., Ist Sess., 348 (1969)
(staternent of Dr. Sol R. Baker, Chairman, Committee on Tobacco
and Cancer, American Cancer Society) (‘‘. .. we are against
prohibition. Some of us lived through one era of prohibition,
and we certainly would not like to see another. We feel that it
is the individual’s right to smoke if he decides to . . .”’); H.Rep.
No. 449, 89th Cong., Ist Sess. (1965), reprinted in 1965 U.S. Code
Cong. & Adm. News 2350, 2352 (‘‘. . . the Committee believes
that the individual must be safeguarded in his freedom of choice-—
that he has the right to choose to smoke or not to smoke. . .’’).
Indeed, it is even true that, in opting for a response to the Surgeon
General’s conclusion that ‘‘Cigarette smoking is a health hazard
of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant

44a

Appendix E

appropriate remedial action,’’ Congress heard testimony of the
‘*significant beneficial effects of smoking primarily in the area
of mental health.’’ Hearings on H.R. 2248, supra, at 167,
(statement of Rep. Horace R. Kornegay) quoting the Surgeon
General’s 1964 Report at 356. See also id. at 438-39 (statement
of Fred S. Royster, Managing Director, Bright Belt Warehouse
Association) (‘‘There seems to be no doubt but that the use of
tobacco in its various forms is relaxing, is enjoyable, and is
conducive of a measure of contentment. . . It is possible that the
relaxation and contentment and enjoyment produced by smoking
has lengthened many lives.’’); Hearings on H.R. 643, supra, at
551 (statement of Joseph F. Cullman, III, Chairman of the
Executive Committee, The Tobacco Institute); id. at 1008-09
(statement of Dr. Charles Hine, Clinical Professor of
Pharmacology and Preventive Medicine, Univ. of California).'
Most importantly, perhaps, Congress’ choice of labeling as the
appropriate response to the Surgeon General’s conclusion that
‘(cigarette smoking is associated with a 70-percent increase in
the age-specific deaih rates of males’’ due to lung cancer, chronic
bronchitis and emphysema, and cardiovascular diseases, see S.Rep.

8. These considerations did not, however, appear in the Senate or House
reports, or the Conference report in either 1965 or 1969. See S.Rep. No. 195,
89th Cong., Ist Sess. (1965); H.Rep. No. 449, 89th Cong., Ist Sess. (1965);
H.Rep. No. 586, 89th Cong., Ist Sess. (1965) (Conference Report), U.S. Code
Cong. & Admin. News 1965, p. 2350; S.Rep. No. 91-566, 91st Cong., Ist Sess.
(1969); H.Rep. No. 91-289 91st Cong., Ist Sess. (1969); H.Rep. No. 91-897
9ist Cong., 2nd Sess. (1970) (Conference Report), U.S. Code Cong. & Admin.
News 1970, p. 2652. It is therefore not clear that these ‘‘beneficial effects’’
were actually considered by Congress. See generally Sands, supra, § 48.10 at
209 (‘‘Although statements in the committee report as to the reason for or the
nature and effect of the proposed law are freely used by the courts to determine
the intent of the legislature, they have been more hesitant in resorting to similar
statements made by committee members or other persons at the committee’s
hearings.’’)

45a

Appendix E

No. 195, 89th Cong., Ist Sess. 2-3 (1965), quoting the Surgeon
General’s 1964 Report, was the result of economic considerations.
Indeed, the Act, in its preamble, seeks explicitly to protect
‘“‘commerce and the national economy . . . to the maximum extent
consistent with this declared policy . . .”? 15 U.S.C. § 1331(2)(A).
Thus, in 1965, Congress heard repeatedly of the economic
ramifications of its proposed actions on the tobacco industry,
‘*clearly a vital sector in this country’s economy.’’ Hearings on
S. 559 and S. 547 Before the Senate Committee on Commerce,
89th Cong., ist Sess. 246 (1965) (statement of Bowman Gray,
Chairman of the Board, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.). See also
id. at 396-97 (statement of Sen. Sam J. Ervin, Jr.); id. at 543-45
(statement of Fred S. Royster, Managing Director, Bright Belt
Warehouse Association); id. at 638-39 (statement of Ziggy Lane,
Field Coordinator, National Association of Tobacco Distributors);
111 Cong. Rec. 13897-98 (June 16, 1965) (statement of Sen. Bass);
111 Cong.Rec. 13914-15 (June 16, 1965) (statement of Sen. Ervin).
For example, Congress heard that, at that time, cigarettes were
smoked by over 70 million people, spending over $8 billion, of
which $3.3 billion went to excise taxes, supporting 750,000 farm
families, as well as 96,000 persons in manufacturing. In all, tobacco
was American’s fifth largest cash crop, and accounted for $405
million in exports. These statistics had become more impressive
by 1969, when Congress again took up the issue, ultimately
resolving to strengthen the Surgeon General’s warning. Hearings
on H.R. 643, supra, at 25-26 (statement of Rep. John L.
McMillan), 42-43 (statement of Reps. Richardson Preyer and
Wilmer D. Mizell), 61-63 (statement of Rep. W.M. Abbitt), 64
(statement of Rep. William H. Natcher), 604-05 (statement of
Robert W. Scott, Governor of North Carolina); 115 Cong.Rec.
16189-91 (June 17, 1969) (statement of Rep. Edwards), 115
Cong.Rec. 16193-94 (June 17, 1969) (statement of Rep. Fountain);
115 Cong.Rec. 16294 (June 17, 1969) (statement of Rep. Abbitt).

46a

Appendix E

In light of these facts, Congress chose to attack the health problems
associated with cigarette smoking not by virtue of a tobacco
prohibition, but throug: a labeling requirement, made stronger
in 1969 so as to be more effective. See S.Rep. No. 91-566, supra,
at 2664; H.Rep. No. 91-289, supra, at 5.

Defendants are thus correct that Congress did not intend,
by passing the Act, to eradicate the tobacco industry and did not
expect to abolish cigarette smoking. They are also correct that
Congress viewed this goal as being furthered by the preemption
provision of the statute, which would serve to eliminate ‘‘diverse,
non-uniform, and confusing cigarette labeling and advertising
regulations with respect to any relationship between smoking and
health,’’ 15 U.S.C. § 1331(2)(B), and to establish ‘‘a
comprehensive Federal program to deal with cigarette labeling
and advertising with respect to any relationship between smoking
and health.’’ 15 U.S.C. § 1331. (Congressional declaration of
policy and purpose). Indeed, the preemption provision of the Act,
and the policy which underlies it, grew out of a concern that
various states and localities would enact conflicting laws and
ordinances.

Some of the bills now pending before State
legislatures would require a warning notice in
cigarette advertisements appearing in periodicals
published within the State. Others would require
a health warning in cigarette commercials
broadcast on a TV or radic station located within
the State. The proposed form of the required
caution notice varies from State to State.

As a practical business matter, it would be almost
impossible for any manufacturer to comply with

47a

Appendix E

all of these differing and conflicting State and local
laws

If Congress does not extend [§ 1334], there will
be piecemeal and conflicting Federal and State
regulations in this field. There will be litigation.
And there will be enormous confusion and
uncertainty. These are precisely the considerations
which prompted Congress in 1965 to preempt this
matter.

Hearings on H.R. 643, supra, at 554 (statement of Joseph F.
Cullman, III). Indeed, congressional action in 1965 was directed
at avoiding the ‘‘maze of conflicting regulations’’ which would
have resulted had Congress not acted in this area, 111 Cong.Rec.
13901 (June 16, 1965) (statement of Sen. Moss). See S.Rep. No.
195, supra, at 4; H.Rep. No. 449, supra, at 2352. And, in 1969,
Congress looked back at what it had done and, apparently saw
itself as having ‘‘fended off efforts by regulatory agencies,
individual state governments, and local governments in some cases
to invade its jurisdiction.’’ Hearings on H.R. 643, supra, at 16
(statement of Rep. Carl D. Perkins). See also 115 Cong.Rec. 16299
(June 18, 1969) (statement of Rep. Preyer). Rejecting the argument
that states, or their subdivisions, ought to be able to ‘‘alert their
own citizens to the dangers of smoking,’’ Hearings on H.R. 643,
supra, at 288 (statement of John F. Banzhaf, III, Executive
Trustee, Legislative Action on Smoking and Health), see also
H.Rep. No. 91-289, supra, at 33 (minority views of Reps. Jarman,
Dingeil and Adams), Congress clarified and continued the
preemption provisions then in effect. See S.Rep. No. 91-556, supra,
reported in 1969 U.S.Code Cong. & Adm.News 2652, 2663;
H.Rep. No. 91-289, supra, at 4, 7, 9. Both in 1965, and again

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Appendix E

in 1969, Congress spoke of its actions in the language of
preemption. Thus, for example, Senator Morton stated that ‘‘[t]he
problem of smoking and health is national in scope. It is clearly
one in which Congress should occupy the the field.’’ 111 Cong.Rec.
13930 (June 16, 1965). Senator Magnuson, Chairman of the Senate
Commerce Committee, apparently agreed

I think that all of us, or at least speaking for
myself, are in general agreement . . . that if this
matter is to be attended to, that it should be on
a Federal level rather than a local or State level.

This is for very practical reasons, along with other
reasons. If there is one product that is completely
in interstate commerce it is tobacco.

It is grown in very few states and shipped all over
to every State in the Union, every country in the
world and, therefore, it would make it highly
impractical and I think a burden on interstate
commerce in this field should you have all kinds
of regulations in various states.

Hearings on S. 559, supra, at 254. See also id. at 548. And, in
1969, Congressman Fountain argued:

... all of us are mindful of the fact that there
are certain areas in which the national interest is
sO paramount—where individual state laws might
so jeopardize the national interest—that
preemption is necessary; and in my opinion the
problem here and the facts are so obvious—with
every state and probably many municipalities

49a

Appendix E

passing different regulations requiring the

' manufacturers of cigarettes to have different labels
on packages going into different states and areas—
that the situation would become intolerable and
so confusing and so frustrating to all concerned
that the entire tobacco industry might be destroyed.
For these reasons I believe in the doctrine of
preemption in this case.

Hearings on H.R. 643, supra, at 30.

From these, and other, statements, defendants glean a
congressional intent to preempt a field which includes the common
law clairns here asserted. They bolstered this assertion at oral
argument by asserting that Congress intended that only the warning
set forth in § 1333 be permitted to appear on cigarette packages;
hence, a cigarette manufacturer found liable would not be
permitted to escape such liability by altering its behavior, a result
which, they claim, could not have been intended by Congress.
In support of this position, defendants cite to congressional
concern that the labeling requirement include a concise statement:

Such cautionary statement should be short and
direct, and should not be weakened in its impact
by any qualifying adjectives such as ‘‘excessive,’’
‘**continual,”’ or ‘‘habitual.’’ To this end, the
committee had concluded that the following factual
and succinct statement should now be prescribed:
‘*Caution: Cigarette smoking may be hazardous
io your health.’’

S.Rep. No. 195, supra, at 4. Consistent with such concern, the
1969 amendments to the Act changed the warning to: ‘‘Caution:

a

50a

Appendix E

The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking
Is Dangerous to Your Health.’’ iS U.S.C. § 1333. In so doing,
and thereby lengthening the warning, Congress opted for a shorter
warning than that proposed by the House, which had required
a label stating ‘‘Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined
That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health and May
Cause Lung Cancer or Other Diseases,’’ but longer and more
equivocal than that proposed by the Senate, i.e., ‘‘Warning:
Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.’’ See H.Rep.
No. 91-897, supra, at 5 (Conference Report). Defendants do not,
however, point to any passages stating explicitly that cigarette
manufacturers would violate the Act by including a statement
in addition to that prescribed in § 1333. Nor is the language of
the Act to that effect.

Plaintiff recognizes the arguments proffered by defendant,
responding simply, that Congress not only did not explicitly
preempt state common law claims, but assumed their continued
existence. In support of this argument, plaintiff also quotes
extensively from the legislative history. It is true, as plaintiff argues,
that discussions of preemption are silent as to the common law;
it is also true that they focus upon executive or legislative
regulation. First, congressional concern regarding preemption
have, as plaintiff indicates, consistently been voiced without
mention of the common law, and not even in terms of regulation
in general, but of ‘‘laws’’ or ‘‘regulations’’ implying particular
executive or legislative enactments. See, e.g., Hearings on S. 559,
supra, at 246, 548 (statement of Bowman Gray, Chairman of the
Board of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.) (‘‘It would be intolerable
if the states . . . were to remain free to pass conflicting laws or
to impose conflicting regulations on this subject.’’); Hearings on
H.R. 643, supra, at 30 (discussing ‘‘laws’’ and ‘‘regulations’’);
id. at 554 (same, discussing ‘‘bills pending before State

rage

Sla

Appendix E

legislatures’’); S.Rep. No. 195, supra, at 4 (discussion ‘‘a
multiplicity of State and local regulations’’); H.R.Rep. No. 449,
supra, cited in 1965 U.S.Code Cong. & Adm.News, supra, at
2352 (same). Moreover, in arguing for the extension of the
preemption provision in 1969, Representative Preyer of North
Carolina addressed the amendment which that year altered such
provision so that it no longer applied as previously to federal
agencies. See 15 U.S.C. §§ 1335-36.

... that amendment speaks only to a ban on
cigarette advertising by the FCC. It does not cover
any other Federal agency and, more importantly,
it does not cover such a ban if adopted by each
States legislature or local governing body.

115 Cong.Rec. 16299 (June 18, 1969) (emphasis added). See also
Hearings on H.R. 643, supra, at 610 {statement of Rep. Satterfield)
(discussing federal, state and local ‘‘administrative and executive
agencies’). And, perhaps most significantly, Representative Udall,
in criticizing the bill ultimately passed in 1965 as one that ‘‘should
be entitled, ‘A bill for the relief and protection of the tobacco
industry,’ ’’ listed as separate problems with the bill—which he
labeled Hookers No. 1 and No. 2—its preemptive effect on ‘‘state
and local government,’’ and the extent to which it ‘‘protects [the
cigarette manufacturers] against lawsuits by cigarette users,’’ by
undermining the assumption of the risk defense. 111 Cong.Rec.
16546 (July 13, 1965). Were these problems linked, he would
certainly have discussed them together; that he did not
demonstrates the inapplicability of the preemption clause to
common law actions. It thus appears that Congress, initially acting
in fear of certain state legislative action, see supra, at 30, continued
to contemplate regulation by legislative or administrative processes
as the subject of the preemption provisions of § 1334. See generally

52a

Appendix E
Garner, supra, 53 S.Cai.L.Rev. at 1453-54.’

That common law claims were not intended for preemption
is still clearer when viewed in terms of certain specifics of the
congressional debate and, as defendants urge, within the historical
context of that debate. See Brief of Defendant Loew’s Theatres,
Inc. at 12 (citing cases). Prior to passage and then amendment
of the Act, products liability cases based upon state common law
had, in fact, been brought against cigarette companies. See, e.g.,
Green v. American Tobacco Co., 304 F.2d 70 (Sth Cir. 1962),

9. Defendants’ arguments to the contrary are sparse. Defendant Liggett
Group quotes Senate Report No. 91-566 as stating that the Act ‘‘prohibits health-
related regulation or prohibition of cigarette advertising by any State or local
authority.” In reality, the 1969 Act clarified the previous preemption provision
by making ‘‘it clear that the term ‘State’ includes any political division of any
State.’”’ Id., cited in 1970 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 2652, 2663. And
rather than stating the proposition cited in Liggett’s brief, that Report actually
states: ‘‘This preemption is intended to include not only action by State statute
but by all other administrative actions or local ordinances or regulations by
any political subdivision of the State.’’ Jbid. Thus limited to legislative and
executive action, this statement provides potent support for plaintiffs position.

Defendants are thus left to rely upon the singular statement of Rep. Bolling:
‘This preempts the right of any entity, of any government, to decide for itself
....’? LLL Cong. Rec. 16545 (July 13, 1965). In addition to the fact that this
statement was immediately followed by remarks of Rep. Springer indicating
the continued existence of common law suits, see infra at 38, remarks for which
Rep. Bolling thanked Rep. Springer, the court notes that defendants should
heed their own admonition: the remarks of a single legislator should ‘‘rarely
. . . be taken as final.’’ Brief of Defendant Loew’s Theatres, Inc. at 21 n. 12,
citing Schiaffo v.Helstoski, 492 F.2d 413, 428 (3d Cir. 1974). This is especially
so where these remarks are uncharacteristic of congressional debate in general.
Ibid. Here, Rep. Bolling may well have been making clear that which was clarified
in 1969—that the preemption provision applied to ‘‘any government,’ including
that of a locality.

53a

Appendix E

question certified on rehearing, 154 So.2d 169 (Fla.), rev’d and
remanded, 325 F.2d 673 (Sth Cir. 1963), rev’d and remanded on
rehearing, 391 F.2d 97 (Sth Cir. 1968), rev’d per curiam, 409 F.2d
1166 (Sth Cir. 1969) (en banc), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 911, 90
S.Ct. 912, 25 L.Ed.2d 93 (1970) (implied warranty of fitness for
use under Florida law); Ross v. Philip Morris & Co., 328 F.2d
3 (8th Cir. 1964) (implied warranty of fitness for use under
Missouri law); Lartigue v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 317 F.2d
19 (Sth Cir.), cert. denied, 375 U.S. 865, 84 S.Ct. 137, 11 L.Ed.2d
92 (1963) (implied warranty of fitness under Louisiana law), cited
in Hudson v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 427 F.2d 541 (Sth Cir.
1970); Pritchard v. Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co., 295 F.2d 292
(3d Cir. 1961), aff’d on rehearing, 350 F.2d 479 (3d Cir. 1965),
cert. denied, 382 U.S. 987, 86 S.Ct. 549, 15 L.Ed.2d 475 (1966),
modified, 370 F.2d 95 (3d Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 386 U.S. 1009,
87 S.Ct. 1350, 18 L.Ed.2d 436 (1967) (warranty of fitness for
use and negligent failure to warn, under Pennsylvania law); Cooper
v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 234 F.2d 170 (1st Cir. 1956), on
remand, 158 F.Supp. 22 (D.Mass. 1957), aff’d, 256 F.2d 464 (1st
Cir. 1958) (fraud under Massachusetts law); Albright v. R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co., 350 F.Supp. 341 (W.D.Pa. 1972), aff’d
mem., 485 F.2d 678 (3d Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 416 U.S. 951,
94 S.Ct. 1961, 40 L.Ed.2d 301 (1974) (products liability action
under Pennsylvania law).'° And, although neither the statute itself

10. Albright was filed on July 5, 1962. See Garner, supra, 53 S. Cal. L.
Rev. at 1423 n. 3. .

It should be noted that these cases address the problems of labeling and
advertising under the aegis of breach of warranty, negligence or fraud causes
of action. See, e.g., Pritchard v. Liggett & Myers, supra, 295 F.2d at 299-300.
Indeed so intertwined is labeling or advertising with any tort causes of action
based upon design defects, that the position of defendants Philip Morris and

(Cont'd)

54a

Appendix E

nor the final committee reports explicitly address the status of
these cases after passage of the Act, congressional debate
recognized their continued existence. Often, such recognition took
the form of discussion as to the effect of the required warning
on the defense of assumption of the risk. Thus, in 1965,
Congressman Fascell of Florida expressed his view that

The legislative record makes it clear that passage
of this law and compliance by the manufacturer
in no way affects the right to raise the defense of
‘‘assumption or [sic] risk’’ and the legal
requirement for such a defense to prevail; nor does
it shift the burden of proof, nor could it be
considered a legal or factual bar to the plaintiff
user.

111 Cong.Rec. 16543-16544 (July 13, 1965). Later, Congressman
Fascell clarified his position. In response to Congressman Bolling’s
opposition to the preemption provisions of the Act, Mr. Fascell
stated:

There might be one consoling factor in the
adoption of the conference report. By virtue of
the language being required as a result of the law,
it would raise the presumption that every company
that makes and distributes this process does so with

Cont’d)

Liggett Group, that the Act permitted ail tort actions except those based upon
labeling and advertising is absurd. See Brief of Defendant Philip Morris at 27-28;
Brief of defendant Liggett Group at 31-32. Labels and advertisements constitute
a manufacturer’s public statements about its product; they are a necessary
component of any \common law tort analysis.

5Sa

Appendix E

knowledge. If that is true, it would redound to
the benefit of a plaintiff bringing an injury suit.

111 Cong.Rec. 16545 (July 13, 1965). Congressman Fascell thus
believed that the warning would ultimately help plaintiffs in cases
such as these. See also 111 Cong.Rec. 16546 (July 13, 1965)
(statement of Rep. Udall). Theodore Ellenbogen, Acting Assistant
General Counsel of the Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare, testifying before the House Committee on Interstate and
Foreign Commerce, disagreed.

MR. MACKAY: I would like to ask you this as
a lawyer. Would not the presence of the type of
warning suggested in these bills greatly strengthen
the hand of a defendant in a tort case?

MR. ELLENBOGEN: In the long run it might do

so, because those cases that I have read—and I
have not made a real study of this particular _
thing—but the Green case, for example, is based, —

I believe, on the implied warranty of fitness, and
there being no notice of the health hazard to the
consumer.

Hearings on H.R. 2248, supra, at 176. In response to
Representatiave Mackay’s further inquiries on this topic, a
memorandum was supplied to the Committee, reviewing the
caselaw, and concluding, as follows:

Assuming a clear statement, suits based on
negligence probably would be barred on three
grounds. Having warned the buyer, the
manufacturer could not be said to be negligent;

ES i oS SP TP SS TT NEE RAREST spree
|

56a

Appendix E

the buyer is contributorily negligent in using a
product he knows might harm him; and having
been warned the buyer assumes the risk attendant
to the use of the cigarettes . . . actions based on
breach of warranty would probably be
unsuccessful. When a seller warns a buyer of the
possibility of a certain form of injury, it cannot
be said that he is warranting that the injury will
not occur.

Id. at 178.

Again in 1969, the House Committee on Interstate and
Foreign Commerce considered this point at great length.
Committee members attempted to show that the tobacco industry’s
support of the warning then in effect was as a result of the benefits
it gained from the undermining of the assumption of ‘the risk
defense. Hearings on H.R. 643, supra, at 577-78 (colloquy between
Rep. Moss and Joseph F. Cullman, III), 579-81 (colloqu: tween
Rep. Dingell and Mr. Cullman), 589 (Colloquy between Rep.
Thompson and Mr. Cullman), 589 (colloquy between Rep.
Satterfield and Mr. Cullman). Representative Watson disagreed.
Id. at 579, 582. However, both in 1969, and previously in 1965,
all parties assumed the existence of lawsuits such as the instant
one. Indeed, the congressional debate as to the validity of certain
defenses presupposes such suits. Thus, Congressman Watson was
correct when he stated that ‘‘nowhere in the Act of 1965 does
it preclude an individual or prevent an individual from pursuing
a common-law liability, as far as | know... .’’ Jd. at 579. In
fact, in 1965, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
considered such suits to be ‘‘a private matter . . . not regulated
by this bill . . . .”” Hearings on H.R. 2248, supra, at 176 (statement
of Theodore Ellenbogen).

57a

Appendix E
\

The legislative history thus supports plaintiff’s position in
these respects.'' Such position is further strengthened by the
structure of the statute ultimately passed: although injunctive relief
is available if sought by the government, 15 U.S.C. § 1339, and
minimal criminal sanctions applicable to violations of the Act,
15 U.S.C. § 1338, the statute is silent as to damage claims. Absent
the existence of common law claims such as those asserted by
plaintiff, victims of cigarette smoking would thus be left with
no remedy at all, a result which is “‘inconceivable,’’ Silkwood
v. Kerr-McGee Corp., supra, 104 S.Ct. at 629 (Blackmun, J.,
dissenting), especially in light of the existence of such claims prior
to passage of the Act. Nonetheless, such claims might be preempted

_ notwithstanding this legislative history if it were found either that
Congress ‘‘occupied the field’’ or that the existence of such claims
creates an actual conflict with the Act. It is these concerns that
the court next addresses.

1. Did Congress preempt state common law claims by
occupying the field?

As the court has noted earlier, preemption implied from
legislative intent may be inferred where Congress ‘‘occupied the

11. It also supports plaintiff’s position with respect to the ‘‘addiction
theory’’ of Count 9 and the advertising claims of Counts 4 and 5 of plaintiff’s
complaint. It is true that Congress chose not to address the addiction problem,
despite the presentation of ‘‘a great deal of scientific testimony’’ regarding the
issue. See Brief of Defendant Lowe’s Theatres, Inc. at 27, citing legislative
history. Nor, however, did it distinguish claims based upon addiction from the
others which it chose not to preempt. See Garner, supra, 53 S. Cal. L. Rev.
at 1453-54. Similarly, congressional inaction regarding the recognized dangers
associated with cigarette advertising and promotion, see id. at 29, citing legislative
history, ought not be construed as forbidding damage claims for injuries caused

“by such advertising and promotion, if such causation can be proved.

58a

Appendix E

field’? in a given area. Whether Congress did so may, in turn,
be inferred in any of three ways: first, if there is a pervasive scheme
of federal regulation in such area; second, if the federal interest
in such area is dominant; and third, if the objective of federal
law in such area and the obligations imposed by it reveal the same
purpose. See supra at 1150. Defendants argue that Congress
explicitly intended to preempt the field and that, in debate and
elsewhere, it demonstrated such intent explicitly and by creating
a pervasive scheme of federal regulation to deal with a problem
uniquely federal in scope. The court disagrees.

It is true that at least one Senator stated that ‘‘[t]he problem
of smoking and health is national in scope. It is clearly one in
which congress should occupy the field.’ 111 Cong.Rec. 13930
(June 16, 1965) (statement of Sen. Morton). Other Senators,
Representatives and delegates from the tobacco industry, the
executive branch, and public interest groups agreed that federal
regulation was necessary, in order to avoid a ‘‘maze of conflicting
regulations’’ and deal with ‘‘a product that is completely in
interstate commerce.’’ See supra at 1159. Hence, Congress passed
a bill purporting ‘‘to establish a comprehensive federal program
to deal with cigarette labeling and advertising with respect to any
relationship between smoking and health.’’ 15 U.S.C. § 1331.

The court agrees that Congress thus intended to occupy a
field and that it indicated this intent as clearly as it knew how.
It utilized the language of preemption; it stated that it was
establishing a pervasive scheme of regulation; and it discussed
the dominant federal interest in the fields affected by its intended
regulation. See, e.g., H.Rep. No. 449, supra, at 2351-52 (‘‘The
problem has broad implications in the field of public health and
health research, and involves potentially far-reaching consequences
for a number of sectors of our economy. The entire tobacco raising

59a

Appendix E

and manufacturing industry, and the numerous businesses which
market tobacco products, are involved. Some proposals have been
made in this area which might lead to severe curtailing or the
possible elimination of cigarette advertising. This could have a
serious economic impact on the televisicn, radio, and publishing
industries in the United States.’’); 111 Cong.Rec. 14,423 (June
22,1965) (statement of Rep. Harris) (‘‘. . .this is an interstate
problem.’’) However, the legislative history of the Act, as well
as its language, persuades the court that the field it occupied does
not encompass the common iaw products liability claims here
asserted. That field was expressly limited to ‘‘cigarette labeling
and advertising with respect to any relationship between smoking
and health,’’ 15 U.S.C. § 1331; the preemption provision of the
Act proscribes state or local action that would require a particular
statement on cigarette packages, 15 U.S.C.§ 1334(a), or impose
any ‘“‘requirement or prohibition’’ with respect to cigarette
advertising. 15 U.S.C. §- 1334(b). Congress addressed itself to a
problem national in scope, and in 1965, and again in 1969, chose
to remedy that problem by requiring certain labeling, and
regulating advertising, and finally making it ‘‘unlawful . . . on
any medium of electronic communications subject to the
jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission.’’ 15
U.S.C. § 1335. It did not, however, address itself to the problem
of compensating the victims of cigarette smoking and/or imposing
civil liability on cigarette companies. Indeed, the issues are within
a different field, that of products liability, the continued existence
of which was assumed by Congress, and left for the states.
Especially because ‘‘federal occupation of a field will not be lightly
inferred,’’ Tribe, supra, § 6-25, at 384 (citing cases), the fact that
two different areas are thus implicated renders preemption
improper. See, e.g., Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., supra, 104
S.Ct. at 622-26 (Price-Anderson Act does not preempt state tort
law remedies); Pacific Gas and Electric, supra, 103 S.Ct. at 1726

60a

Appendix E

(Atomic Energy Act leaves to the states traditional powers to
regulate utilities); Sears-Roebuck & Co. v. San Diego County
District Council of Carpenters, supra, 436 U.S. at 194-97, 98 S.Ct.
at 1756-57 (cases relating to labor relations are not preempted
if ‘‘different from’’ those presented to the National Labor
Relations Board); Askew v. American Waterways Operators, Inc.,
411 U.S. 325, 336, 93 S.Ct. 1590, 1597, 36 L.Ed.2d 280 (1973)
(Water Quality Improvement Act does not preempt state common
law claims for damages for oil spillage); Huron Cement Co. v.
City of Detroit, 362 U.S. 440, 445, 80 S.Ct. 813, 817, 4 L.Ed.2d
852 (1960) (Detroit ordinance had different purposes from, and
therefore is in a different field than congressional enactments
concerning shipping). That the areas are similar begins rather than
ends the inquiry; where Congress limits the scope of its enactment
and manifests its intent not to interfere with areas beyond that
scope, the preemptive effect of such enactment must be similarly
proscribed. See generally Pacific Gas & Electric, supra, 103 S.Ct.
at 1726 (‘‘When the federal government completely occupies a
given field or an identifiable portion of it ... the test of
preemption is whether ‘the matter on which the state asserts the
right to act is in any way regulated by the federal government.’ ’’),
quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Railroad Corp., supra, 331 U.S. at 236,
67 S.Ct. at 1155. Admittedly, the areas addressed by plaintiff’s
complaint, and those within the scope of the Act are related.
Cigarette labeling and advertising are at issue in plaintiff’s
complaint, and the form they take may be affected by this lawsuit,
if successful. Howevc., as it did with respect to the Price-Anderson
Act and, more explicitly, the Water Quality Improvement Act,
Congress, in enacting the Federal Cigarette Labeling Act, intended
only that states be precluded from regulating cigarette labeling
and advertising. Compensation is, as the court has noted elsewhere,
an entirely different matter. See supra at 1155-1156. The ‘egislative
history demonstrates that Congress assumed that, in appropriate

6la

Appendix E

cases and where liability could be proven, such compensation
would be paid, though such cases had failed in the past. It limited
the scope of the Act, and especially of the preemption provision
to that which it feared would interfere with the operation of the
Act, and the health of the tobacco industry—state or local
regulation, by statute, ordinance or other official legislative or
executive enactment. It correspondingly limited the obligations
imposed and the remedies available under the Act to those
consonant with this purpose; a particular label was required, 15
U.S.C. § 1333, advertising was regulated, 15 U.S.C. § 1334-35,
and reports were called for. 15 U.S.C. § 1337. Only the
government can enforce the statute, by criminal prosecuticn or
injunction. 15 U.S.C. § 1338-39.'* Products liability standards

12. However, Congress did not create a particulariy pervasive or
comprehensive regulatory system when enacting the Cigarette Labeling Act. See
Tribe, supra, § 6-25 at 385 (where a multiplicity of federal regulations govern
a given field, the pervasiveness of the regulations will help to sustain a conclusion
that Congress intend io exercise exclusive control over the subject matter), citing
Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway & Motor Coach Employees
of America v. Lockridge, 403 U.S. 274, 296, 91 S. Ct. 1909, 1922, 29 L.Ed.2d
473 (1971); Castle v. Hayes Freight Lines, Inc., 348 U.S. 61, 75 S.Ct. 191, 99
L.Ed. 68 (1954). See also Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Association, supra,
458 U.S. at 153, 102 S.Ct. at 3022. But see New York Department of Social
Services v. Dublino, 413 U.S. 405, 415, 93 S.Ct. 2507, 2514, 37 L.Ed.2d 688
(1973) (rejecting the contention that ‘‘preemption is to be inferred merely from
the comprehensive character’’ of the provisions at issue), cited in Motor and
Equipment Manufacturers Association, Inc. v. E.P.A., 627 F.2d 1095, 1107-08
and n. 20 (D.C. Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 952, 100 S.Ct. 2917, 64 L.Ed.2d
808 (1980). Here, while defendants are correct that Congress has evinced
continuing interest in the area of cigarette smoking, see Brief of Defendant
Loew’s Theatres, Inc. at 33-34, regulation of the area has been considerably
less pervasive than in such areas as labor law, interstate trucking and banking,
in which preemption was found to exist, or in welfare, the environment, or
even nuclear power, in which such preemptive effect has been limited or denied.
See supra (cases cited in this note); Silkwood, supra; Pacific Gas & Electric, supra.

62a

Appendix E

are thus left to the states, and mention of the corresponding private

Tights of action and damage remedies available to individuals is
omitted from the Act. See generally Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator
Corp., supra, 331 U.S. at 230, 67 S.Ct. at 1152 (field preempted
by federal statute determined, in part, by objective thereof) (citing
cases); Old Dominion Branch No. 496, National Association of
Letter Carriers .v. Austin, supra, 418 U.S. at 271, 94 S.Ct. at
2774 (fieid preempted by federal statute determined, in part, by
remedies availab!e thereunder). These private rights of action and
private remedies, iraditionally governed by state law, ought not,
therefore, be assumed to be eradicated by the Act. See Rice, supra,
331 U.S. at 230, 67 S.Ct. at 1152. Congress did not intend that
they be, and this court will not render them so.

2. Does state tort law conflict with the Act?

As in Silkwood, the question of preemption here turns
ultimately ‘‘on whether there is an irreconcilable conflict between
the federal and state standards or whether the imposition of a
state standard in a damages action would frustrate the objectives
of the federal law.’’ 104 S.Ct. at 626. See also Chicago & North
Western Transportation Co. v. Kalo Brick & Tile Co., supra,
450 U.S. at 317-18, 101 S.Ct. at 1130. As noted above, a conflict
occurs either where compliance with state and federal law is a
‘physical impossibility’ or where state law ‘‘stands as an obstacle
to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and
objectives of Congress.’’ See supra, at 1151. However, in general,
conflicts ought not lightly be inferred. As the Supreme Court has
recently stated, in a diferent context:

The existence of a hypothetical or potential conflict
is insufficient to warrant the preemption of the
state statute. A state regulatory scheme is not

63a

Appendix E

preempted by the federal antitrust laws simply
because in a hypothetical situation a private party’s
compliance with the statute might cause him to
violate the antitrust laws. A state statute is not
preempted by the federal antitrust laws simply
because the state scheme might have an
anticompetitive effect.

Rice v. Norman Williams Co., 458 U.S. 654, 659, 102 S.Ct. 3294,
3299, 73 L.Ed.2d 1042 (1982) (citing cases). Implicitly utilizing
this standard, the one federal court that has construed the
preemption provision of the Act refused to find a conflict between
the goal of uniformity, as embodied therein, and FCC regulation
of television broadcasts regarding cigarettes. Banzhaf v. F.C.C.,
405 F.2d 1082, 1090-91 (D.C.Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 396 U.S.
842, 90 S.Ct. 51, 24 L.Ed.2d 93 (1969) (Bazelon, C.J.)."°
Nonetheless, the question of whether or not New Jersey common
law of products liability conflicts with the Act is one of first
impression. '*

13. The one scholar that has examined this provision has concluded that
“*[t}he labeling acts manifest neither a congressional intention to preempt courts
from granting money judgments nor a conflict between such judicially imposed
liability and federal law.’’ Garner, supra, 53 S. Cal. L. Rev. at 1454.

14. Defendants are correct that, in addressing this question, the court
focuses not upon the purposes of state law, be they regulatory or merely
compensatory, but upon the effect of such law. See, e.g,, Perez v. Campbell,
402 U.S. 637, 650-652, 91 S.Ct. 1704, 1711-12, 29 L.Ed.2d 233 (1971). Thus,
the court here examines ‘‘first the purposes of the federal law and second the
effect of the operation of the state law on these purposes.’” Finberg v. Sullivan,
634 F.2d 50, 63 (3d Cir. 1980) (emphasis supplied), citing Perez, supra. In this
sense, the analysis here undertaker differs from that regarding express
preemption, supra, at 1153-1156. There, the question was one of whether the
New Jersey common law of products liability constituted regulation; the New
Jersey courts’ characterization of such law is much more relevant to that inquiry.

64a

Appendix E

This question requires that the court first examine the
purposes of the Act. As we have seen, as they relate to its
preemptive provision, those purposes are essentially two: first,
Congress intended to ensure the continued vitality of the tobacco
industry, for economic reasons and to preserve freedom of choice
for the individual; second, Congress sought to implement this
and other goals by making uniform the labeling and advertising
requirements imposed upon cigarette manufacturers. Defendants
also point to the »bvious remedial purposes of the Act, which
sought to address the health concerns raised by the Surgeon
General’s Report, and argue that these purposes are best furthered
by a concise and unambiguous warning. It is claimed that all of
these purposes will be undermined by the simultaneous existence
of state common law claims such as those asserted by plaintiff.

The court first notes that in no event is compliance with both
the Act and state law a ‘‘physical impossibility.’’ At most, state
law imposes liability in the form of damages upon defendants.
Payment of such damages, as well as fulfillment of the labeling
requirements of the Act, are clearly possible. Indeed, the
imposition of criminal liability urder the Act, as well as the
payment of damages, are both possible. See, Silkwood, supra,
104 S.Ct. at 626. Defendants, however, argue that state common
law may impose, for example, labeling requirements inconsistent
with the Act, rendering compliance with both impossible. This
argument is without merit. First, as observed earlier, common
law liability does not impose requirements upon any party; rather,
it allows parties to choose between risking further liability by not
changing their behavior, or attempting to negate such risk by,
for example, adding a more stringent label to a cigarette package.
Which course of action one takes is a matter of choice; one cannot
be enjoined or held criminally liable for the course taken. Hence,
no requirement is imposed. As the Court of Appeals for the District

65a

Appendix E

of Columbia has recently stated, in holding that a label found
adequate by the Environmental Protection Agency for purposes
of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 7
U.S.C. § 136 et seq., (‘‘FIFRA’’) could nonetheless provide the
basis for liability under Maryland common law, notwithstanding
a preemption clause prohibiting states from imposing different
labeling requirements.

...Maryland can be conceived of as having
decided that, if it must abide by EPA’s
determination that a label is adequate, Maryland
will nonetheless require manufacturers to bear the
risk of any injuries that could have been prevented
had Maryland been allowed to require a more
detailed label or had Chevron persuaded EPA that
a more comprehensive label was needed. The
verdict [against Chevron] does not command
Chevron to alter its label—the verdict merely tells
Chevron that if it chooses to continue selling
paraquat in Maryland, it may have to compensate
for some of the resulting injuries. That may in
some sense impose a burden on the sale of paraquat
in Maryland, but it is not equivalent to a direct
regulatory command that Chevron change its label.
Chevron can comply with both federal and state
law by continuing to use the EPA-approved label
and by simultaneously paying damages to
successful tort plaintiffs such as Mr. Ferebee.

Ferebee v. Chevron Chemical Co., supra, 736 F.2d at 1541."*

15. Defendant Loew’s Theatres, Inc. has attempted to distingish Ferebee
(Cont’d)

66a

Appendix E

Moreover, even if a verdict against cigarette manufacturers were
viewed as imposing a requirement upon them, and the
manufacturers thus chose to place an additional warning on, or
in their packages, such action would not be incompatible with
the Act. Section 1333 makes it unlawful not to place the prescribed
warning on cigarette packages; it is silent as to additional
information or warnings that might also be included.'* Hence,
it is not ‘‘physically impossible’’ for a cigarette manufacturer to
chose to alter its behavior in response to an adverse jury verdict.

Nor does the existence of state common law claims stand
as an obstacle to the execution of Congress’ intent in passing,
and then amending, the Act. Primarily, this is because, as in
Silkwood, Congress intended that state common law claims
survive, and thus, that whatever tension exists between federal
regulation of cigarette labeling and advertising and state common
law claims be tolerated. 104 S.Ct. at 625. That congressional

(Cont’d)

from the instant matter, based primarily upon the regulatory scheme created
by FIFRA. It is true that FIFRA, unlike the Federal Cigarette Labeling Act,
delegates great responsibility to the states. From this fact, defendant gleans a
legislative intent not to preempt state common law claims. While the existence
of a state role may be evidence of an intent not to preempt, it is neither the
only such evidence, nor necessary to a holding that preemption has not occurred.
Just as the court did in Ferebee, and in Silkwood, this court has examined the
legislative history of the Act at issue in great detail. Its conclusion—that
preemption is not warranted—is based, as it should be, on that particular history.
See Note, supra, 12 Stanf. L. Rev. at 208-210. Other cases, such as Ferebee
and Silkwood, state general principles applicable here, but the court recognizes
that the results reached in each of those cases are instructive only by analogy.

16. Because the Act carries criminal penalties, it should be strictly construed.
See, e.g., United States v. Bass, 404 U.S. 336, 348, 92 S.Ct. 515, 522, 30 L.Ed.2d
488 (1971).

67a

Appendix E

intent is, as has been shown, clear: state common law claims existed
prior to passage of the Act, were assumed to have a continued
existence during the legislative process, and were not eliminated
by the passage of the Act. Though it is true that, as defendants
argue, even state regulation supplementary to a federal
enactment—a characterization not inapposite here—may be
preempted by such federal enactment, see, e.g., Campbell v.
Hussey, 368 U.S. 297, 302, 82 S.Ct. 327, 329, 7 L.Ed.2d 299
(1961); Cosmetic, Toiletry & Fragrance Association, Inc., v. State
of Minnesota, 440 F.Supp. 1216, 1224 (D.Minn. 1977), aff’d,
575 F.2d 1256 (8th Cir. 1978), that is only the case where there
is an actual conflict between the two, and the federal enactment
is “‘significantly impeded by the state law.’’ Tribe, supra, § 6-24
at 379 and n. 12. No such conflict exists here.

First, Congress’ intention that the cigarette industry be
allowed to survive, and that the consumer remain free to choose
or not to choose to smoke, is not undermined by the imposition
of liability upon cigarette companies.'’ That concern was reflected
in Congress’ decision not to ban cigarettes or cigarette advertis

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385019_0054%3A2. Public record. Not legal advice.
