U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara has given more than 140 Seneca Nation businesses an

additional two-week reprieve from enforcement of a new federal law banning the mailing of

cigarettes.

In a case in which billions of dollars of tax revenues and thousands of jobs are at stake,

Arcara listened to a full day of legal debate Wednesday between attorneys for Seneca Nation

cigarette sellers and lawyers for the federal government.

Late Wednesday afternoon, he reserved decision on legal questions involving the Prevent All

Cigarette Trafficking Act, commonly known as the PACT Act.

Temporary restraining orders already in effect prevent the government from enforcing the

law against more than 140 businesses owned by members of the Seneca Nation. Those orders were

set to expire July 16, but Arcara extended them until July 30.

Before that date, Arcara said, he hopes to rule on the Seneca businesses' request for a

preliminary injunction, preventing the government from enforcing the law against the Senecas

until questions about its constitutionality have been decided.

"There's no telling how he's going to rule," said Rick Jemison, a Seneca businessman who is

chairman of the Seneca Free Trade Association.

Lawyers and Seneca business people packed the courtroom for Wednesday's legal arguments.

The law prevents the U.S. Postal Service from delivering commercial cigarette shipments. It

also requires companies that engage in interstate cigarette sales to make sure all federal,

state and local taxes are paid in the state where the purchaser lives.

But Lisa A. Coppola, an attorney for one Seneca-owned business, argued that a seller could

not possibly know about every state and local cigarette tax law in every state.

"If I'm a businessman, I've got to find out what laws regulate me, and if I don't,

that's my problem," responded Gerald C. Kell, a U.S. Justice Department lawyer arguing for the

law. "Don't sell into [a] state if you can't figure out how to abide by that state's laws."

Coppola also claimed that the law discriminates against Native Americans, an allegation

that Kell vehemently denied.

According to government lawyers, the law was enacted to prevent underage smokers from

obtaining cigarettes through the mail and to correct a situation that has cost governments

billions of dollars a year in uncollected taxes.

Robert Odawi Porter, legal counsel for the Seneca Nation, sat among Seneca business owners

observing the proceedings. He said he feels the new law unfairly targets Senecas.

"It seems like the government is spending an awful lot of time and energy hunting down some

Indians for selling cigarettes," Porter said. "I think it is important that we try to protect

Seneca people who are just trying to save their businesses."

Federal government attorneys say the law was carefully drafted to adhere to the U.S.

Constitution and to avoid infringing on the sovereign rights of any Indian tribe.