Kelly v. Martin and Bayley

In this case, a district court in Illinois followed an Eighth Circuit decision in Watson v. Philip Morris, which held that tobacco company Philip Morris was entitled to remove cases brought against it in state court to federal court on the theory that the company was acting under the direction of a federal officer in marketing light cigarettes. The Illinois district court decision was appealed to the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and Public Citizen filed a brief in support of the plaintiffs, who sought to have the case remanded to state court.

On September 19, 2007, after the Supreme Court reversed the decision in the Watson case, the Seventh Circuit similarly held in this case that the cigarette companies could not invoke the federal officer removal statute, accepting the arguments in our amicus brief.