Six jurors are telling a legal industry to pay a sum nearly 10 times its net worth. The biggest damages here may be to the reputation of the legal system. Yesterday's award is more than six times bigger than the previous record, which was struck down on appeal. But the idea that trial lawyers should even aspire to sink an entire industry remains alarming. Granted, the tobacco firms cynically aimed their products at children.
Cigarettes ruin people's health.
Congress should regulate them more aggressively, and all effort should be made to prevent children from smoking. In part, the popularity of anti-tobacco lawsuits reflects the failure of the political branches to step up to the plate. But the Florida suit will achieve neither sane regulation nor protection for children. It merely asks the industry to pay billions that it doesn't have, and so makes the law seem hopelessly impractical. News Jobs AP Shopping Archives Entertain.