» The Verdict Is In presents highlights from the landmark opinion
January 5, 2009
New smoke-free policy set for federal offices
A new federal regulation prohibits smoking in the courtyards of federal buildings, and within 25 feet of doorways and air intake ducts, and also prohibits designated smoking rooms in federal buildings. The policy will be implemented within six months. Read more about the latest smoke-free federal regulation.
The latest issue of the Legal Update, the newsletter of the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, is now available. This issue highlights last week’s important Supreme Court “light” cigarette ruling, Altria Group, Inc. v. Good, upholding the ability of smokers to sue tobacco manufacturers for deceptive health claims. Also featured are the proceedings of our legal symposium on the merits of outdoor smoking restrictions and employment policies designed to discourage smoking, along with updates on the recent Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; the appeal of the federal government’s racketeering lawsuit against tobacco manufacturers; and California litigation involving tobacco-free drug stores.
» Read the fall 2008 issue of the Legal Update. PDF, 1.6 Kb
On October 23, 2007, the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium held an interactive public health law symposium entitled “Going Too Far? Exploring the Limits of Smoking Regulation” at William Mitchell College of Law, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium symposium proceedings were published in William Mitchell Law Review Vol. 34:4 (2008).
» Read the symposium proceedings.
The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium has filed an amicus brief in a significant U.S. Supreme Court case that could determine if consumers can sue tobacco companies under state law for false advertising of “light” cigarettes.
» Read more about this amicus brief.
The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium is a national network supporting tobacco control policy change by giving advocates better access to legal expertise. The Consortium’s priorities are to help make legal technical assistance an integral part of comprehensive tobacco control programs, provide a limited degree of direct legal support and raise awareness of the role of legal services in effective policy change. Within its resources, the Consortium works to assist communities with urgent legal needs and to increase the legal resources available to the tobacco control movement.
The Consortium grew out of collaboration among existing legal programs serving five states. Drawing on the expertise of these legal centers and others, the Consortium provides legal technical assistance to support the creation of new legal programs and to help communities with urgent legal needs. Technical assistance services may include help with legislative drafting, legal research, legal analysis and strategy, training and presentations, preparation of friend-of-the-court legal briefs and litigation support.
The Consortium’s coordinating center, located at the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, fields requests for information and coordinates the delivery of services by the collaborating legal resource centers.
The Consortium can be reached at tobaccolaw@wmitchell.edu or 651-290-7506.
Support for this program was provided in part by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey, and by the American Cancer Society.
