Appeals court judge sends back lawsuit over mailing tobacco

By Nedra Pickler Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- An appeals court says a judge must reconsider whether cigarettes can be sent through the mail. A law that went into effect last summer bans shipments of tobacco products through the U.S. mail to stop sales to minors and illegal trafficking. Robert Gordon, one of many Seneca Indians who sells tobacco products online from New York, says the law has cost him almost all of his business and he filed a lawsuit against it in federal court in Washington. A judge threw out Gordon's suit, in part because it was filed the day before the law went into effect. But the appeals court ruled last Friday that Gordon was not too late to file his suit and sent it back to the judge to reconsider. Published: Tue, Feb 22, 2011