Cite as: 514 U. S. 476 (1995)
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
Pharmacy, 425 U. S., at 771-772; Bates, 433 U. S., at 383-384; Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp., 463 U. S. 60, 81-83 (1983) (Stevens, J., concurring in judgment); see also Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc., 507 U. S. 410, 426 (1993) (city's regulation of commercial speech bore no relationship to reasons why commercial speech is entitled to less protection). Although some false and misleading statements are entitled to First Amendment protection in the political realm, see, e. g., Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U. S. 323 (1974); New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254 (1964), the special character of commercial expression justifies restrictions on misleading speech that would not be tolerated elsewhere. As Justice Stewart explained:
"In contrast to the press, which must often attempt to assemble the true facts from sketchy and sometimes conflicting sources under the pressure of publication deadlines, the commercial advertiser generally knows the product or service he seeks to sell and is in a position to verify the accuracy of his factual representations before he disseminates them. The advertiser's access to the truth about his product and its price substantially eliminates any danger that government regulation of false or misleading price or product advertising will chill accurate and nondeceptive commercial expression. There is, therefore, little need to sanction 'some falsehood in order to protect speech that matters.' " Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy, 425 U. S., at 777-778 (concurring opinion), quoting Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U. S., at 341.4
4 Justice Stewart's reasoning has been the subject of scholarly criticism, on the ground that some speech surrounding a commercial transaction is not readily verifiable, while some political speech is easily verifiable by the speaker. See Farber, Commercial Speech and First Amendment Theory, 74 Nw. U. L. Rev. 372, 385-386 (1979). Although I agree that Justice Stewart's distinction will not extend to every instance of expression, I think his theory makes good sense as a general rule. Most of the time, if
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