|
Oregon court upholds Web cigarette sale regulation |
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Saturday, 15 May 2010 |
Oregon court upholds Web cigarette sale regulation
The Associated Press
May 13, 2010
By WILLIAM McCALL
PORTLAND, Ore. - Authority to regulate Internet cigarette sales made from an American Indian reservation in another state was upheld Wednesday in a ruling by the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Scott Maybee, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York state, had argued Oregon law did not apply to the reservation and he was subject only to federal law.
The court rejected his claims, ruling that Oregon law did not regulate his business operations on the reservation, and instead affected only the products his business sold in Oregon.
In an opinion by Presiding Judge David Schuman, the Court of Appeals said that "state courts may exercise jurisdiction in civil cases involving Native Americans and relating to conduct that extends beyond the reservation's boundaries."
The case involved cigarette brands that were not part of a 1998 national settlement with large tobacco companies and the attorneys general of 46 states that required cigarette manufacturers to make payments to the states to help recover their health care costs for smoking-related illnesses.
Oregon lawmakers required manufacturers that did not participate in the agreement to pay into an escrow fund that would be used to ensure payment of any future judgment the state won against those manufacturers.
But the court noted that Oregon lawmakers in 2003 limited sales of those nonparticipating brands because violations of the escrow fund requirement threatened to undermine the $206 billion "master settlement agreement" with the major tobacco companies.
The opinion said Maybee sold cigarettes in Oregon that were not listed on the attorney general's directory of brands that have met the required state certification.
Maybee was sued by former Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers, who specifically mentioned Maybee in a 2006 report on various law enforcement problems in Oregon, including cigarette tax evasion.
Although the appeals court case dealt with limits on cigarette brand sales and not taxes, Myers noted in his report that in 2006 Maybee operated three of the top eight Internet cigarette retail sites with the largest number of sales in Oregon.
As a result of enforcement action, Myers also said in that report the Oregon Department of Revenue collected more than $680,000 in past-due taxes from consumers who purchased from Maybee's sites.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9FLVQHO0.htm
|
