The trucking industry, supported by the federal government, is warning that a Maine law on tobacco sales could lead to conflicting state regulations that Congress meant to pre-empt when it deregulated motor transportation, the New York Times reported Thursday.
Two lower federal courts agreed with the industry, and found that the state law was pre-empted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, and in arguments Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared inclined to reach the same result, the paper reported.
If either Maine or the 38 other states that signed a brief supporting it had allies on the Supreme Court, those justices did not make themselves known during the argument, the paper said.
Maine is trying to prevent under-age consumers from buying cigarettes over the Internet, and maintains it is protecting public health and carrying out the desire of Congress to curb smoking among young people. Its 2003 law requires those who sell tobacco products directly to consumers to use only those delivery services that verify the age of the recipient, the Times said.
Several justices said there could be a patchwork of laws and regulations if the law were codified, the Time said, with Justice Stephen Breyer saying it could be a “nightmare” if each state conducted the patchwork of regulations differently, the paper reported.
