Phuck Philip Morris

Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of corporate scum.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review on Monday a $50 million punitive damages award against Altria Group Inc's Philip Morris unit in the case of a longtime smoker who was diagnosed with lung cancer and then died.

The lawsuit against the tobacco company had been filed in California state court by Richard Boeken, who said he smoked two packs of Marlboro cigarettes a day for decades. Diagnosed with lung cancer in 1999, he was 57 when he died in 2002.

A jury in Los Angeles awarded Boeken a record $3 billion in punitive damages and $5.5 million in compensatory damages. The trial judge then reduced the punitive damages award to $100 million.

A California appeals court last year further reduced the punitive damages award to $50 million, and both Philip Morris and Boeken's widow appealed to the Supreme Court.

The courts reduced the punitive award by more than 98 percent, and the company continued to appeal. I guess not to do so would be to neglect its responsibilites to their shareholders. And far be it for a tobacco company to act in an irresponsible manner.

Speaking of responsibility, tobacco companies can't be penalized enough for the pain and suffering they've caused and continue to cause around the world. And shame on you if you're one of those shareholders. Rationalize all you want, but you profit from the suffering of others. The longer you have owned and continue to own tobacco stock (and defense contractor stock, for that matter), the more blood you have on your hands.