The Second Circuit concluded that the 1998 law, in pre-empting state lawsuits in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, did not pre-empt state suits brought by those who merely held, but did not trade, shares as a result of the research.

The Court of Appeals did rule, however, that a Federal law that had often blocked consumers from suing managed-care providers did not pre-empt the widow from suing her husband's doctor.

To the Editor: You are correct that federal antispam laws must not pre-empt stronger state laws, but not in saying that a good law would require e-mail headers to say "ADV" for "advertisement" ("Congressional Spam Filter," editorial, Nov. 3).

Rice v. Norman Williams Co., 458 U.S. 654, 661; see also 324 Liquor Corp. v. Duffy, 479 U.S. 335 (1987) ("Our decisions reflect the principle that the federal antitrust laws pre-empt state laws authorizing or compelling private parties to engage in anticompetitive behavior.")

The law will not pre-empt regulations in the two dozen or so states that already have restrictions, including those with standards that are tougher than the new Federal law.

And it should clearly state that federal chemical-plant laws do not pre-empt state and local laws.

Because the state remedy did not duplicate the Erisa remedy, federal law did not pre-empt it, the appeals court said.

Sorting Out Two Laws In its decision today, the Court ruled that the first law, the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, did not pre-empt damage suits at all, because it did nothing more than bar states from setting their own requirements for the contents of cigarette labels.