The petition for certiorari in Philip Morris v. Accord, which we mentioned previously here, has been denied.

The issue (constitutionality of a reverse-bifurcation procedure in which punitive damages issues are decided before liability and compensatory damages) is still before the court in another case, Chemtall v. Stern. The petition in that case was filed Feb. 8 and the opposition is due March 10.

UPDATE (2/25/08 at 11:39 AM): Here is an Associated Press story on the denial of certiorari in Accord. The headline is a bit misleading; the Supreme Court did not “side with” the plaintiffs, it just denied the cert. petition.