Senecas win partial victory versus PACT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A federal judge's ruling on the PACT Act is a partial victory for Seneca business owners.

U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara ruled that tobacco products could not be sold through the mail, but could be sold out-of-state in other ways. The judge also ruled that buyers would be responsible for paying taxes on the cigarettes, not the sellers.

The law was passed, in part, to prevent illegal tobacco sales to underage Americans.

Read the statement below from the Senecas regarding the judge's ruling:

“We are deeply disappointed the federal court did not enjoin all aspects of the PACT Act at this point. The court’s decision to enjoin on due process grounds relating to at best questionable taxes by numerous jurisdictions, but not enjoin the provisions relating to use of the mails to deliver tobacco, fails to safeguard our Seneca tobacco retailers and their employees from the Act’s harm. Simply put, it does not preserve the status quo.

The Nation urges Seneca business people to continue their court battle - all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary - to allow mailing of legal tobacco products.

Congress and President Obama have portrayed the PACT Act as a tool to protect Americans from terrorism and to prevent tobacco sales to minors, but it’s really nothing more than a vehicle for global tobacco giants – led by Philip Morris – to kill off competition from Native American entrepreneurs.

The federal court acknowledged the unprecedented and troubling nature of the Act. Our tobacco economy supports some 3,000 job in Western New York. Even with the court’s ruling today, the likelihood remains that thousands of Seneca- and non-Seneca workers will be out of a job.