Forces Action Project, LLC v. California

MEMORANDUM **

Forces Action Project, a smokers’ rights organization, and individual smokers filed this action against the Attorney General of the State of California and four major cigarette manufacturers. Plaintiffs seek to invalidate the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), in which 46 states and several U.S. territories agreed to settle their claims against the cigarette manufacturers for recovery of smoking-related healthcare costs. Plaintiffs sought leave from the district court to file an amended com *323 plaint alleging that, through the MSA, Defendants are operating an output cartel and controlling cigarette prices in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1-7 . The district court denied Plaintiffs’ motion to amend.

Plaintiffs assert that the district court committed an error of law by relying on undue delay alone as justification for denying their motion to amend. See Bowles v. Reade, 198 F.3d 752, 758 (9th Cir.1999) (“Undue delay by itself ... is insufficient to justify denying a motion to amend.”). However, we also have held that, even if a district court provides an insufficient explanation for denying a motion to amend, we may affirm if a satisfactory…