On March 31, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a long-running standoff with the Oregon Supreme Court over the handling of a punitive damages suit against Philip Morris brought by the widow of a smoker who died from lung cancer in 1997. In a rare procedural move, despite conducting oral argument months ago, the Supreme Court, in a one-sentence opinion, dismissed the case of Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Williams as "improvidently granted."

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