On May 22, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned a district court order requiring tobacco companies to buy millions of dollars in advertising space to print “corrective statements” containing confessions that they had “deliberately deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking.” The decision was a victory for WLF, which filed a brief arguing that federal law does not require individuals or businesses to brand themselves as liars. WLF argued that the First Amendment prohibits compelled speech when, as here, the message is not designed to prevent consumer deception but rather to punish the speaker. The appeals court ruled against the government without reaching the First Amendment issue, however. It held that compelled confessions of wrongdoing are not authorized as a remedy under RICO, the federal statute under which the federal government has been proceeding against the tobacco industry since the Clinton Administration.