Commonwealth Brands, Inc. v. Morgan

RANDOLPH, Presiding Justice,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Appellants raise a constitutional challenge to a fee legislated on cigarettes distributed through Mississippi for sale outside the state, claiming separate violations of the Commerce and Due-Process Clauses. In 2009, the Mississippi Legislature passed a law imposing a fee1 on the sale, purchase, and distribution in Mississippi of cigarettes manufactured by companies that did not enter into settlement agreements with the State of Mississippi as a result of a 1997 lawsuit (the “nonset-tling manufacturer” or “NSM” law), “including cigarettes sold,…