The Court refuses to hear a major case seeking to impose constitutional limits on class-action lawsuits. In a round of orders issued during its last public session of the Term, it sets 11 new cases for decision at its next Term.
An effort by four major tobacco companies to nullify a $270 million program to encourage Louisiana smokers to quit ended quietly in the Supreme Court Monday, as the Justices simply denied review and passed up a chance to clarify the constitutional status of controversial class-action lawsuits. That denial was perhaps the highest-visibility order on a lengthy closing-day list that included 11 new grants, helping the Court to fill what had appeared to be empty spaces in its early winter calendar. A final round of orders will come out Tuesday morning, but the Court is already in recess.