Justices Appear Ready to Overturn Maine Tobacco Law
During oral arguments yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared inclined to overturn a Maine law regulating the delivery of cigarettes purchased over the Internet, the New York Times reports.
The law requires companies that sell tobacco directly to consumers to use delivery services that check the age of the buyer. The trucking industry contends the law is pre-empted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994.
“If Maine, or the 38 other states that signed a brief supporting it, had allies on the Supreme Court, those justices did not make themselves known during the argument,” the Times reported.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wondered what would happen if every state enacted a slightly different law. “Wouldn’t you agree that there would be just the kind of patchwork regulation at the state level that this statute was intended to stop?” he asked.
