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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Leon</p>           WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Graphic warning labels imposed by the federal government on tobacco products violate the First Amendment, a federal court in Washington, D.C., has ruled. <br /><br />West Virginia was one of 21 states to join the brief.<br /><br />U.S. District Judge Richard Leon on Wednesday ruled in favor of five tobacco manufacturers that challenged the labels, which displayed graphic imagines like diseased lungs and a cadaver bearing chest staples on an autopsy table. The companies argued the images were an unconstitutional means of forcing them to distribute the government's anti-smoking message.<br /><br />A preliminary injunction against the labels had been granted by Leon. Wednesday, he granted the companies' motion for summary judgment.<br /><br />\"(A)lthough the government contends that it has a compelling interest -- 'conveying to consumers generally and adolescents in particular, the devastating consequences of smoking and nicotine addiction,' -- its 'stated purpose does not seem to comport with the thrust of its arguments, or with the evidence it offers to support the rule,'\" Leon wrote.<br /><br />\"To the contrary, it is clear that the government's actual purpose is not to inform or educate, but rather to advocate a change in behavior -- specifically to encourage smoking cessation and to discourage potential new smokers from starting.\"<br /><br />To read the full story, visit <a href=\"http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/235354-judge-fdas-new-cigarette-warnings-violate-first-amendment\" class=\"copy\">Legal Newsline</a>."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://wvrecord.com/stories/510602348-judge-fda-s-new-cigarette-warnings-violate-first-amendment>