KENNEDY, COLLEAGUES URGE GONZALES TO APPEAL TOBACCO DECISION

Washington, DC: Today Senator Kennedy and fourteen other senators wrote a letter to Attorney General Gonzales urging him to pursue every available avenue of appeal to overturn the misguided Court of Appeals decision in the United States of America v. Philip Morris USA Inc. Last month, the U.S. District Court for DC found overwhelming proof of misconduct by the tobacco companies, however the trial judge concluded that a prior decision of the Court of Appeals prevented her from ordering appropriate remedies to address the enormous harm caused by the industry’s misconduct. The Senators appealed to Gonzales to “put the health of the American people and the interests of justice first in the final resolution of this case.” The letter was sent by Senators Kennedy, Leahy, Durbin, Lautenberg, Feinstein, Reid, Harkin, Cantwell, Boxer, Sarbanes, Levin, Wyden, Jeffords, Dodd and Kerry. Below is a text of the letter and a PDF version with signatures of the letter is available on request.