On September 24, 2010, Justice Scalia granted a stay, pending a certiorari petition, of a $241 million judgment against Philip Morris brought in Louisiana state court by a class of Louisiana residents.  Rejecting several arguments in favor of the stay, Justice Scalia found one persuasive: that defendants were denied due process because the individual class members were not required to prove reliance, even though reliance was an element of the fraud claim plaintiffs asserted.  The Louisiana court had held that because the money from the judgment would be used to fund a smoking-cessation program that would benefit the class as a whole, rather than being paid to specific individuals, it was sufficient that the class relied as a whole on the false statements.