A case involving the imposition of $79.5 million in damages on Philip Morris for the death of an Oregon smoker is once again before the U.S. Supreme Court, which already has ruled on the case twice, the Christian Science Monitor reported Dec. 4.

Previously, the Supreme Court asked the Oregon courts to review the case for compliance with safeguards against awarding excessive amounts of money in damages. The state courts twice upheld the original ruling, and Philip Morris has twice asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

Most recently, the Oregon Supreme Court cited state law in bypassing the federal court's directive. "The problem that I think we all have is how do we guard against making constitutional decisions which are simply going to be nullified by some clever device, raising a procedural issue or an issue of state law when the case goes back [to the state courts]," U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter said.

The 1999 case ended with a ruling that Philip Morris practiced fraud by suggesting that cigarettes were not life threatening, or even unhealthy. Philip Morris denied the allegations, saying that the dangers inherent in smoking cigarettes were commonly known.

Currently at issue are the instructions the trial judge made to the jury. The judge declined to mention the tobacco company's fear that the jurors might try to punish the company for harming other smokers and not just rule on the case at hand. Philip Morris was found guilty of engaging in fraud while marketing its cigarettes and was assessed $79.5 million in damages.

The Supreme Court's next ruling on the case is expected in June of 2009.