Law for Business 10th Edition by James Barnes,Terry Dworkin,Eric Richards

Exercise 9

The Massachusetts Attorney General promulgated regulations governing the sale and advertisement of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars. In part, the regulations place a variety of restrictions on outdoor advertising of tobacco products. They were implemented to address the incidence of tobacco use by children under legal age and in order to prevent access to such products by underage consumers. The regulation at issue in this case specifically prohibits tobacco advertising within a 1,000-foot radius of a school or playground. The advertising limits were challenged by a group of tobacco manufacturers and retailers. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the regulations, as they related to cigarette advertising, were preempted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which prevents the states from restricting the "advertising or promotion" of cigarettes. However, because the federal statute's preemption provision does not cover smokeless tobacco or cigars, the tobacco manufacturers and retailers challenged those outdoor advertising restrictions on First Amendment grounds. Do the outdoor advertising restrictions violate the First Amendment?