VICTORY: APPEALS COURT SIDES WITH ALCOHOL INDUSTRY
In a victory for the alcohol beverage industry on Tuesday, the US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a consolidated appeal filed by parents in Ohio (Eisenberg) and Michigan (Alston) who claimed that industry advertising targets children. The suit targeted breweries, distillers and trade associations, including A-B, Coors, Bacardi, Miller and The Beer Institute.
The plaintiffs sought to bar all alcohol advertising and recover any money used by minors in obtaining and consuming the alcohol. Their claims were based on the grounds that the alcohol industry purposely targets youths in advertising by employing cartoons, clothing and toys.
PLAINTIFFS HAD NO VALID LEGAL CLAIM. The court, however, did not agree. The three-judge panel said that the parents couldn’t sue because they were unable to show that their children or other minors had illegally purchased alcohol because of advertising. Furthermore, the judges pointed out that it’s already illegal in both Michigan and Ohio for minors to purchase alcohol or for someone to sell it to them. So in other words, the appeals court ruled that Eisenberg and Alston had no valid legal claim because there was no injury in fact, no causation and no viable remedy.
The 6th Circuit upheld two lower court decisions dismissing the lawsuits that were filed in federal district courts in Michigan and Ohio in 2004. The three-judge panel agreed unanimously that the cases have no legal basis whatsoever to proceed in court for the following reasons: (1) the individuals who sold the alcohol illegally to minors are at fault, not the alcohol beverage companies; (2) advertising cannot be blamed for underage drinking since “individuals are accountable for their own actions”; (3) the defendants have a first amendment right to advertise
With the Sixth Circuit’s decision, there are now three other appeals pending in West Virginia, Colorado and Wisconsin.
The plaintiffs sought to bar all alcohol advertising and recover any money used by minors in obtaining and consuming the alcohol. Their claims were based on the grounds that the alcohol industry purposely targets youths in advertising by employing cartoons, clothing and toys.
PLAINTIFFS HAD NO VALID LEGAL CLAIM. The court, however, did not agree. The three-judge panel said that the parents couldn’t sue because they were unable to show that their children or other minors had illegally purchased alcohol because of advertising. Furthermore, the judges pointed out that it’s already illegal in both Michigan and Ohio for minors to purchase alcohol or for someone to sell it to them. So in other words, the appeals court ruled that Eisenberg and Alston had no valid legal claim because there was no injury in fact, no causation and no viable remedy.
The 6th Circuit upheld two lower court decisions dismissing the lawsuits that were filed in federal district courts in Michigan and Ohio in 2004. The three-judge panel agreed unanimously that the cases have no legal basis whatsoever to proceed in court for the following reasons: (1) the individuals who sold the alcohol illegally to minors are at fault, not the alcohol beverage companies; (2) advertising cannot be blamed for underage drinking since “individuals are accountable for their own actions”; (3) the defendants have a first amendment right to advertise
With the Sixth Circuit’s decision, there are now three other appeals pending in West Virginia, Colorado and Wisconsin.
posted at 1:13 PM
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