State of Idaho ex rel. Wasden v. Maybee

Indian Smokeshop Cert Petition Filed in Challenge to Tobacco MSA

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The case is Maybee v. Idaho: Maybee Cert Petition

Lower court materials here.

Question presented:

In 1998, the Attorneys General of 46 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia (the “Settling States”) settled various legal actions involving antitrust, product liability and consumer protection claims against the nation’s four largest tobacco companies. In exchange for substantial sums of monies, tied in part to sales volume, to be paid by settling manufacturers, each Settling State agreed to enact and diligently enforce a qualifying escrow statute that would artificially inflate costs for other tobacco manufacturers and which “effectively and fully neutralizes the cost disadvantage that the Participating Manufacturers experience vis-a-vis Non-Participating Manufacturers.” The question presented to the Court is whether a Settling State may prohibit the sale of certain brands of cigarettes manufactured by tobacco companies that have never been sued, or otherwise alleged or found culpable for conduct giving rise to liability.

Idaho Supreme Court Rejects Indian Challenge to Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in State of Idaho ex rel. Wasden v. Maybee.

An excerpt:

Scott B. Maybee challenges the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the State of Idaho. Maybee argues that Idaho’s Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement Complementary Act (Complementary Act) is inapplicable to his conduct, as the Complementary Act was not intended to regulate unstamped cigarettes sold in interstate commerce. Maybee also contends that the Complementary Act is preempted as it applies to him, under both the Interstate Commerce Clause and the Indian Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as Maybee is a Native American, living and conducting business upon a reservation located in the state of New York. Maybee argues that the tobacco permit requirement of Idaho’s Prevention of Minors’ Access to Tobacco Act (MAA) is likewise preempted by the Indian Commerce Clause.