U.S. preparing to appeal key tobacco penalty ruling

By Peter Kaplan Tue Jun 28, 6:32 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is preparing to ask the
U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that has hobbled the government's racketeering case against cigarette makers, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday.

Department lawyers are circulating a draft copy of a petition asking the high court to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that barred the government from seeking $280 billion in past tobacco profits as a legal remedy for decades of alleged fraud by the industry, said the source, who declined to be identified.