Will be interesting to see how this eventually plays out...
Why isn't BIG BUFFALO in on this? Or for that matter, maybe
a snus outfit could ride the coattails!!
Why isn't BIG BUFFALO in on this? Or for that matter, maybe
a snus outfit could ride the coattails!!
"Seneca cigarette retailer granted restraining order
By Patrick Lakamp and Dan Herbeck
News Staff Reporters
Updated: June 28, 2010, 6:50 pm /
Published: June 28, 2010, 12:45 pm
A federal judge this afternoon granted a temporary restraining order allowing a Seneca Nation mail-order cigarette retailer to deliver tobacco products across the country without having to meet all of the requirements of a new federal law set to take effect at midnight.
District Judge Richard J. Arcara granted the motion as part of the retailer's lawsuit against the U.S. government. The retailer, Red Earth, which does business as Seneca Smokeshop, has asked the court to declare the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act unconstitutional.
Seneca Smokeshop, a 10-year business, employs 17 people and sells cigarettes in 46 states. The business is owned by Aaron J. Pierce of Irving, a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians.
Without the restraining order, the business would have been crippled as soon as the law took effect, said Lisa A. Coppola, the retailer's lawyer.
"It's no small thing for him to lose his business entirely," Coppola told Arcara during a hearing this afternoon in federal court.
The legislation signed into law in March bans the U.S. Postal Service from shipping cigarettes. But the PACT Act impacts the Senecas' cigarette business in other ways, as well.
The law requires those selling cigarettes on the Internet to pay all federal, state, local or tribal tobacco taxes and affix tax stamps before delivering any tobacco products to any customer.
Retailers also have to register with the state where they are based and make periodic reports to state tax collection officials. And retailers must check the age and ID of customers both when they purchase tobacco and when the tobacco products are delivered.
Lawyers for Seneca Smokeshop did not address the Postal Service ban as they sought the retraining order, but focused on how the retailer would have to contend with thousands of state and local taxing jurisdictions while selling cigarettes across the country.
"We're not talking about only 46 states or a couple of taxing jurisdictions," Coppola told Arcara.
Arcara found the smokeshop demonstrated it would have suffered irreparable injury without the restraining order. The judge also found the retailer demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of its claim that the PACT Act violates various provisions of the Constitution, including the commerce clause, the Tenth Amendment, the due process clause and the equal protection clause.
In his written order, Arcara said he issued the retraining order "in the public interest because the public favors restraining enforcement of statutes that appear to violate provisions of the Constitution."
Arcara also said the Office of U.S. Attorney failed to file a timely response to the retailer's motion for a restraining order.
Arcara's order said the federal government is retrained from enforcing the federal law against Seneca Smokeshop and Pierce.
Both sides were ordered to return to court July 7.
Coppola said Seneca Smokeshop has been working to arrange delivery of the cigarettes by a private carrier, at least to customers in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where most of the retailer's customers live.
President Obama angered business people from the Senecas and other tribes that sell tobacco products when he signed the law.
But other organizations, including the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids, rejoiced over the law, calling it a landmark step in the effort to prevent youngsters from obtaining cigarettes, and to prevent billions of dollars in tax evasion.
Pierce's lawyers alleged that the law violates the commerce clause, the due process clause, the equal protection clause, the import-export clause and the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The retailer also claimed that the new law violates four different treaties, all signed between 1784 and 1842, granting sovereignity to the Senecas and other tribes.
"The act is overbroad, unduly burdonsome and impermissibly vague," Coppola said in court papers. "Among other things, it requires out-of-state retailers (even those without a physical presence in the state) to collect the sales and use taxes of states and localities in which they have no presence." " http://www.buffalonews.com/cgi-bin/print_this.cgi
By Patrick Lakamp and Dan Herbeck
News Staff Reporters
Updated: June 28, 2010, 6:50 pm /
Published: June 28, 2010, 12:45 pm
A federal judge this afternoon granted a temporary restraining order allowing a Seneca Nation mail-order cigarette retailer to deliver tobacco products across the country without having to meet all of the requirements of a new federal law set to take effect at midnight.
District Judge Richard J. Arcara granted the motion as part of the retailer's lawsuit against the U.S. government. The retailer, Red Earth, which does business as Seneca Smokeshop, has asked the court to declare the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act unconstitutional.
Seneca Smokeshop, a 10-year business, employs 17 people and sells cigarettes in 46 states. The business is owned by Aaron J. Pierce of Irving, a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians.
Without the restraining order, the business would have been crippled as soon as the law took effect, said Lisa A. Coppola, the retailer's lawyer.
"It's no small thing for him to lose his business entirely," Coppola told Arcara during a hearing this afternoon in federal court.
The legislation signed into law in March bans the U.S. Postal Service from shipping cigarettes. But the PACT Act impacts the Senecas' cigarette business in other ways, as well.
The law requires those selling cigarettes on the Internet to pay all federal, state, local or tribal tobacco taxes and affix tax stamps before delivering any tobacco products to any customer.
Retailers also have to register with the state where they are based and make periodic reports to state tax collection officials. And retailers must check the age and ID of customers both when they purchase tobacco and when the tobacco products are delivered.
Lawyers for Seneca Smokeshop did not address the Postal Service ban as they sought the retraining order, but focused on how the retailer would have to contend with thousands of state and local taxing jurisdictions while selling cigarettes across the country.
"We're not talking about only 46 states or a couple of taxing jurisdictions," Coppola told Arcara.
Arcara found the smokeshop demonstrated it would have suffered irreparable injury without the restraining order. The judge also found the retailer demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of its claim that the PACT Act violates various provisions of the Constitution, including the commerce clause, the Tenth Amendment, the due process clause and the equal protection clause.
In his written order, Arcara said he issued the retraining order "in the public interest because the public favors restraining enforcement of statutes that appear to violate provisions of the Constitution."
Arcara also said the Office of U.S. Attorney failed to file a timely response to the retailer's motion for a restraining order.
Arcara's order said the federal government is retrained from enforcing the federal law against Seneca Smokeshop and Pierce.
Both sides were ordered to return to court July 7.
Coppola said Seneca Smokeshop has been working to arrange delivery of the cigarettes by a private carrier, at least to customers in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where most of the retailer's customers live.
President Obama angered business people from the Senecas and other tribes that sell tobacco products when he signed the law.
But other organizations, including the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids, rejoiced over the law, calling it a landmark step in the effort to prevent youngsters from obtaining cigarettes, and to prevent billions of dollars in tax evasion.
Pierce's lawyers alleged that the law violates the commerce clause, the due process clause, the equal protection clause, the import-export clause and the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The retailer also claimed that the new law violates four different treaties, all signed between 1784 and 1842, granting sovereignity to the Senecas and other tribes.
"The act is overbroad, unduly burdonsome and impermissibly vague," Coppola said in court papers. "Among other things, it requires out-of-state retailers (even those without a physical presence in the state) to collect the sales and use taxes of states and localities in which they have no presence." " http://www.buffalonews.com/cgi-bin/print_this.cgi
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