City Defends Tobacco Regulations in First Circuit

The National Law Journal:

A lawyer for Providence, R.I., urged a federal appeals court on Monday to reject a constitutional challenge to a local ban on redemption of coupons for tobacco products. Tobacco companies remain free to distribute those coupons, he argued, even if residents are not free to redeem them.

"This case is about the tobacco industry's attempt to circumvent two local ordinances designed to keep tobacco out of the hands of children," Anthony Cottone, a solo practitioner who represented the city defendants, insisted before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

The case is National Association of Tobacco Outlets Inc. v. City of Providence.

Two January 2012 ordinances ban tobacco product coupons, multiproduct discounts and the sale of flavored tobacco products. In December 2012, District of Rhode Island Chief Judge Mary Lisi granted the city's summary judgment motion and disposed of the plaintiffs' case. The named plaintiff and eight other companies, subsidiaries and associations sued the city, two departments and three officials in February 2012.

Lisi held that neither ordinance violated the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights because they are "economic" regulations that do not limit commercial speech or expressive conduct.

Read more here.