U.S. appeals court rejects graphic anti-smoking warnings

The Chicago Tribune reports:

A U.S. appeals court has struck down the government's plan to require graphic warnings on cigarette packs, ruling that the shocking images seek to "browbeat consumers into quitting" smoking and violate the free-speech rights of the tobacco companies.

One of the nine proposed images shows a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a surgical hole in his throat, evoking the dangers of smoking and the addictive power of nicotine. Other images show diseased lungs, dead bodies and a baby enveloped in a plume of smoke.

Judge Janice Rogers Brown said the government can require cigarette companies to carry printed warning labels, but it cannot go further to mandate an "ideological" and "emotional" attack on smoking.

Janice!