Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit September 28, 2004, No. 03-16535 (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Shewry)

lead-opinion

Opinion by Judge FISHER; Dissent by Judge TROTT

FISHER, Circuit Judge.

We deal here with a novel First Amendment claim. The appellants, three tobacco companies, claim that California violated their First Amendment rights by imposing a surtax on cigarettes and then using some of the proceeds of that surtax to pay for advertisements that criticize the tobacco industry.