On September 20, 2024, WLF asked the Supreme Court to review and ultimately reverse, on First Amendment grounds, a decision upholding an FDA requirement that tobacco manufacturers and retailers prominently display a series of misleading, graphic warning labels on cigarette packages and advertisements. In its amicus brief urging review of the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, WLF emphasized that the First Amendment fully protects the right both to speak and not to speak. WLF’s brief explained why the graphic warnings at issue here do not qualify as ordinary disclosures akin to those that the Supreme Court has upheld. Rather, they are the very sort of controversial, ideological messages that have nothing to do with preventing consumers from being misled.

Documents

Supreme Court cert-stage brief

Fifth Circuit amicus brief