After all, teens don't have much trouble getting illegal drugs, which are costlier than tobacco will ever be. And the state governments. And the military, for promoting smoking by its personnel. And Hollywood, for glamorizing smoking. But although tobacco lawsuits did some good years ago by unearthing proof of the companies' deceptions and forcing them to stop advertising to teenagers, lawsuits now do bad guys virtually no harm and smokers very little good.
Tobacco companies are inanimate corporations.
Although corporate liability for recent misconduct may indirectly affect top executives and create economic incentives to avoid future misconduct, the deterrent value dissipates to the vanishing point when a company's punishment comes years and years after the misconduct. The way to punish misconduct by executives is to sue them personally or prosecute them criminally. But plaintiffs' attorneys rarely go after individuals, because corporations have more money and fewer legal defenses. Sure, all the litigation over the past few years has depressed tobacco stocks. But large institutions that invest the pension funds and the other assets of millions of ordinary Americans hold most tobacco-company stocks.