Commercial Speech

American Civil Liberties Union
Summaries of and ACLU press releases on Supreme Court rulings from several of the Court’s terms.

Federal Trade Commission
Explains litigation the FTC is currently involved in and court actions it has taken to enforce its regulations.

FindLaw
Search for court cases on any commercial speech topic.

First Amendment Cyber-Tribune
Summaries of the high court's rulings on many issues, including some on commercial speech.

Free Expression Network
Discussion of many freedom of speech/expression cases, some focusing on commercial speech, from the 1998-2001 Supreme Court terms.

USA Today: The Supreme Court
Recent decisions analyzed and explained, search engine for other decisions not posted.

USA Today: Supreme Court Decisions
Browse and search US Supreme Court decisions since 1893.

Court Cases

Bigelow v. Virginia (1975); Virginia Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens (1976)
Both of these cases were effective in overturning the Court’s 1942 decision that denied protection to “commercial speech.”

Austin v. Keefe (1971)
The organization for a Better Austin circulated leaflets that accused Jerome M. Keefe, a local real estate broker, of “blockbuster" tactics. Keefe attained an injunction against the leaflets due to their alleged “libelous” nature. The Court found the injunction violated the First Amendment and outlawed it. The Court stated that peaceful pamphleteering such as this falls under the protection of the First Amendment and stated that such prior restraint of this form of expression goes against the grain on the constitutional intention of free expression and speech.

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