U.S. Asks Justices to Review Tobacco Company Ruling.

The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Friday to review a 2006 federal fraud racketeering conviction against the tobacco industry and to authorize the district judge in the case to require tobacco companies to give up as much as $280 billion in ''ill-gotten gains.'' Also on Friday, Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds, Lorillard and British American Tobacco filed papers asking the Supreme Court to overturn the racketeering conviction or return it to an appellate court for review. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]