An $18 million ruling against a consumer packaged goods trade group for concealing millions of dollars in donations against a GMO-labeling ballot initiative was adequately proportional to the offense, the Supreme Court of Washington said Thursday.
A state court found that the Grocery Manufacturers Association, now known as the Consumer Brands Association, violated the Fair Campaign Practices Act by failing to register as a political committee and concealing the source of $11 million in donations to a campaign against a failed 2013 state voter initiative that would have required some manufacturers to disclose whether packaged food contained genetically modified ingredients. ...