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Price v. Philip Morris12/15/2005
utes, this court gives undefined words their plain and ordinary meaning. Granite City Division of National Steel Co. v. Illinois Pollution Control Board, 155 Ill. 2d 149, 181 (1993). It is entirely appropriate to employ the dictionary as a resource to ascertain the meaning of undefined terms. People ex rel. Daley v. Datacom Systems Corp., 146 Ill. 2d 1, 16 (1991).
The statutory language at issue provides that the Consumer Fraud Act shall not apply to actions "specifically authorized by laws administered by any regulatory body or officer acting under statutory authority of this State or the United States." 815 ILCS 505/10b(1) (West 1998). It is undisputed that the FTC acts under federal statutory authority to administer federal laws regarding the labeling and advertising of cigarettes.
To authorize is to "give legal authority; to empower," " o formally approve; to sanction." Black's Law Dictionary 143 (8th ed. 2004). Although the dictionary definition clearly encompasses formally promulgated trade regulation rules of the FTC, neither the definition nor the statute itself limit the application of the provision to authorization via formal agency rulemaking. Rather, so long as the conduct is specifically authorized "by laws administered by" the regulatory body, it is exempt from Consumer Fraud Act liability. Based on the dictionary definition, therefore, the specific authority contemplated by section 10b(1) may be either express or implied.
Authorization is "specific" if it is " f, relating to, or designating a particular or defined thing; explicit," " f or relating to a particular named thing." Black's Law Dictionary 1434 (8th ed. 2004). The term "specifically" in section 10b(1) describes the substance or content of the authorization. It refers to the conduct that has been authorized, rather than the manner in which the authorization has been communicated. The term "specifically" indicates a legislative intent to require a certain degree of specificity or particularity in the authorization.
Neither party has offered any argument as to the meaning of the phrase "by laws administered by." However, we conclude that the legislature must have intended the phrase to require deference to agency policy and practice as it carries out the duties delegated to it by Congress or the General Assembly. If the legislature had intended to require that the specific authorization be contained in the law itself, it would have exempted conduct "specifically authorized by state or federal statute," not conduct "specifically authorized by laws administered by" a regulatory body.
Our focus, therefore, must be on the actions of the FTC with regard to cigarette labeling and advertising to determine whether, as a matter of state law, it specifically authorized PMUSA to use the disputed terms in its labeling and advertising. If the FTC has specifically authorized the use of the terms "lights" and "lowered tar and nicotine" by PMUSA in its labeling and advertising, PMUSA may not be held liable under the Consumer Fraud Act, even if the terms might be deemed false, deceptive, or misleading.
2. Legislative Intent and Public Policy
Our reading of the plain and ordinary meaning of the language of section 10b(1) is consistent with apparent legislative intent and with the public policy embodied in the Consumer Fraud Act. Although the Consumer Fraud Act is to be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes of protecting "consumers, borrowers, and business persons against fraud, unfair methods of competition, and other unfair and deceptive business practices" (Robinson, 201 Ill. 2d at 416-17), the legislature clearly intended for certain actions or transactions enga
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