Justices let stand $70M in cash to Florida smokers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has turned away appeals from cigarette manufacturers of more than $70 million in court judgments to Florida smokers.
The justices did not comment Monday in rejecting the companies’ complaints.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Philip Morris USA Inc. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. wanted the court to review cases in which smokers won large damage awards without having to prove that the companies sold a defective and dangerous product or hid the risks of smoking.
Those cases all relied on a Florida court ruling that allows individual smokers or their surviving relatives to use jury findings in an earlier large class-action lawsuit, even though the verdict in that earlier case was overturned. Each plaintiff still has to show addiction to cigarettes, and resulting death or illness.
Court: Children over 21 sent to back of visa line
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says immigrant children who waited for years with their parents to obtain visas still have to go to the back of the line when they turn 21.
The justices on Monday sided with the Obama administration in ruling that immigration laws do not let children who age out of the system qualify for visas.
The case involved Rosalina Cuellar de Osorio, a Salvadoran immigrant who was in line for a visa along with her 13-year-old son. But after years of waiting, her son turned 21 and government officials said he no longer qualified as an eligible child. He was placed at the back of the line, resulting in a wait of several more years.
The family lost a challenge in federal district court, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision.
Court decides against group in toxic water case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says a group of homeowners in North Carolina can’t sue a company that contaminated their drinking water because a state deadline has lapsed.
The justices ruled 7-2 on Monday that state law strictly bars any lawsuit brought more than 10 years after the contamination — even if residents did not realize their water was polluted until years later.
The high court reversed a lower court ruling that said federal environmental laws should allow the lawsuit against electronics manufacturer CTS Corp. to proceed.
The decision is a setback for the families of thousands of former North Carolina-based Marines suing the federal government in a similar case for exposing them to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune. The government is relying on the same state law to avoid liability.
