23-34 94th St. Grocery Corp. v. New York City Board of Health
New York City required all tobacco retailers to display signs bearing graphic images showing adverse health effects of smoking. Retailers challenged the city's resolution. The lower court held that the resolution is preempted by federal labeling laws. In this decision, the appeals court affirmed, citing the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which includes a preemption provision, limiting the extent to which states may regulate the labeling, advertising, and promotion of cigarettes.
23-34 94th Grocery Corp., et al. v. New York City Board of Health, et al., 685 F.3d 174 (2nd Cir. 2012).
Tobacco companies or front groups may challenge any legislative or regulatory measure that affects their business interests. Unlike public interest litigation, these cases seek to weaken health measures. These cases frequently involve the industry proceeding against the government. For example, a group of restaurant owners challenging a smoke free law as unconstitutional.
The subject matter of the case should be dealt with at a state level or national level.
Type of Tobacco Product
None
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
"The labeling requirement and preemption provision of the Labeling Act express Congress's determination that "the prescribed federal warnings are both necessary and sufficient to achieve its purpose of informing the public of the health consequences of smoking." Altria,555 U.S. at 79, 129 S.Ct. 538. Accordingly, states may not require that additional warnings be displayed by the manufacturer. See id.
"[B]oth of the Act's purposes are furthered by prohibiting States from supplementing the federally prescribed warning...." Id. In Vango Media, Inc. v. City of New York, this Court invalidated one such effort to supplement federal warnings. 34 F.3d 68 (2d Cir.1994). There, a City ordinance required that one public health message pertaining to the dangers of smoking be displayed for every four tobacco advertisements displayed on top of taxi cabs. Id. at 70. We held that this was a requirement "with respect to" advertising, and therefore preempted by the Labeling Act. Id. at 73–75. Although the ordinance did [685 F.3d 182] not impact the appearance of the advertisements themselves, it "impose[d] conditions on [the] display of cigarette advertisements." Id. at 74–75. We held that Congress intended to preempt any local law that "treads on the area of tobacco advertising, even if it does so only at the edges." Id. at 74."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
New York City required all tobacco retailers to display signs bearing graphic images showing adverse health effects of smoking. Retailers challenged the city's resolution. The lower court held that the resolution is preempted by federal labeling laws. In this decision, the appeals court affirmed, citing the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which includes a preemption provision, limiting the extent to which states may regulate the labeling, advertising, and promotion of cigarettes.