State Tobacco Litigation

Your May 26 editorial, “More Pressure on Tobacco Deal,” inadvertently omitted key facts.

First, due to our aggressive litigation posture, our office has already obtained access to the Minnesota documents yet to be made public pursuant to that state’s settlement.

Second, the 1987 tobacco immunity law, authored by Bill Lockyer and Willie Brown, now has been interpreted by two trial courts and one appellate court as preventing California from seeking Medicaid damages for the period before June 12, 1997. Only after Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren informed the Legislature of this statutory bar did the Legislature act to eliminate this special immunity. Florida assisted its settlement by passing, before it commenced its action, legislation uniquely detrimental to the tobacco industry. Minnesota, Texas and Mississippi enjoyed other favorable laws and rulings. Thus, to compare California’s legal landscape to these other states is grossly misleading.

Notwithstanding the judicial recognition that the Lockyer/ Brown deal immunized the tobacco industry from personal injury damages, the attorney general has 20 full-time lawyers aggressively preparing for an expected early 1999 trial date on the remaining consumer protection and antitrust counts, made possible in part by our historic settlement with Liggett. Potential damages from these claims alone exceed billions of dollars. Moreover, Lungren has, since March 1997, assigned attorneys from his executive staff to work essentially full-time on the national settlement.

ROB STUTZMAN

Communications Director

California Dept. of Justice

Sacramento