Federal judge says govt. can't require grisly images on cigarette packages

The judge ruled on constitutional free speech grounds, but the case could end up in the Supreme Court.

NPR: Federal Judge Rules Graphic Cigarette Labels Violate Constitution
Scary labels the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would require on cigarette packages later this year were nixed today. ... Five tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard, are plaintiffs in the case (Hensley, 2/29).

The New York Times: U.S. Judge Strikes Down FDA Cigarette Labels
Judge Richard J. Leon of the United States District Court in Washington ruled that forcing the companies to use the labels, which show staged images like a man breathing smoke out of a tracheotomy hole in his neck and a mouth punctured with what appear to be cancerous lesions, violated their free speech rights under the First Amendment (Strom, 2/29).

The Wall Street Journal: Grisly Tobacco Labels Thrown Out By Judge
The summary judgment follows a preliminary ruling in November. At that time, Judge Leon issued a temporary injunction, adding that tobacco companies had demonstrated "a substantial likelihood" of winning the case on constitutional grounds. The government has appealed the November ruling, and some observers have predicted the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately could decide the matter (Esterl, 2/29).