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Arguing an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court [6] in the case of Jesse Williams [7], a African American man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros [8] for 42 years, Philip Morris [9] (PM) lawyers likened the company to a civil rights victim. PM also compared itself to a death row inmate illegally denied due process, an indigent criminal denied adequate legal representation, and even the civil rights group NAACP [10]. Mayola Williams, Jesse's wife, pursued the personal injury case on behalf of her husband after his death, arguing that PM is liable because of its longstanding misinformation campaigns [11] designed to allay fears about smoking. In 1999, a Portland, Oregon jury ruled against PM and awarded $81 million to Williams' estate. After the original verdict, PM finally admitted publicly that smoking causes cancer [12], but the company continues to appeal the case. PM's now seeking a new trial and relief from the punitive damages award, whose value with interest has now climbed to over $140 million.
Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/5684/anne-landman
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/ethics
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/health
[4] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/tobacco
[5] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fspin%2F2008%2F12%2F8035%2Fphilip-morris-civil-rights-victim&linkname=Philip%20Morris%20a%20Civil%20Rights%20Victim%3F
[6] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S._Supreme_Court
[7] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jesse_Williams
[8] http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/98/7/1184?ck=nck
[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Philip_Morris
[10] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/NAACP
[11] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tobacco_industry_projects_&_operations
[12] http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E1D91530F930A25753C1A96F958260
[13] http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/12/phillip-morris-smoke-screen.html