An appeals court this week denied the government's request to reconsider a decision barring the Justice Department from seeking $280 billion from major cigarette companies in an ongoing civil racketeering trial.
The Justice Department last month asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reconsider a panel's decision that the government could not use a federal racketeering law to seek the huge penalty.
The panel's 2-1 decision, issued in February, ruled the government was limited to "forward looking" remedies, and seeking money earned through fraudulent means was not an option.