478
Opinion of the Court
Bruce J. Ennis, Jr., argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., Paul M. Smith, Nory Miller, M. Caroline Turner, and Terrance D. Micek.*
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.
Section 5(e)(2) of the Federal Alcohol Administration Act prohibits beer labels from displaying alcohol content. We granted certiorari in this case to review the Tenth Circuit's holding that the labeling ban violates the First Amendment because it fails to advance a governmental interest in a direct and material way. Because § 5(e)(2) is inconsistent with the protections granted to commercial speech by the First Amendment, we affirm.
I
Respondent brews beer. In 1987, respondent applied to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), an agency of the Department of the Treasury, for approval of proposed labels and advertisements that disclosed the alcohol content of its beer. BATF rejected the application on the ground that the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (FAAA or Act), 49 Stat. 977, 27 U. S. C. § 201 et seq., prohibited disclosure of the alcohol content of beer on labels or in advertising. Respondent then filed suit in the District
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the Center for Science in the Public Interest by Bruce A. Silverglade; and for the Council of State Governments et al. by Richard Ruda.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the Association of National Advertisers, Inc., et al. by Burt Neuborne, Gilbert H. Weil, Valerie Schulte, and John F. Kamp; for Public Citizen by David C. Vla-deck; for the United States Telephone Association et al. by Michael W. McConnell, Kenneth S. Geller, Charles A. Rothfeld, William Barfield, and Gerald E. Murray; and for the Washington Legal Foundation by Charles Fried, Donald B. Ayer, Daniel J. Popeo, and Richard A. Samp.
Briefs of amici curiae were filed for the Beer Institute by P. Cameron DeVore, John J. Walsh, and Steven G. Brody; and for the Wine Institute by John C. Jeffries, Jr.
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