526
Opinion of Thomas, J.
rather than "applying" the fourth prong of Central Hudson to reach the inevitable result that all or most such advertising restrictions must be struck down, I would adhere to the doctrine adopted in Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy and in Justice Blackmun's Central Hudson concurrence, that all attempts to dissuade legal choices by citizens by keeping them ignorant are impermissible.
III
Although the Court took a sudden turn away from Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy in Central Hudson, it has never explained why manipulating the choices of consumers by keeping them ignorant is more legitimate when the ignorance is maintained through suppression of "commercial" speech than when the same ignorance is maintained through suppression of "noncommercial" speech. The courts, including this
to Rhode Island residents of lower priced alcohol outside the State, see Brief for Respondent Rhode Island Liquor Stores Association 27; yet the Court strikes down the ban against price advertising even as applied to out-of-state liquor sellers such as petitioner Peoples Super Liquor Stores. Perhaps Justice Stevens and Justice O'Connor would distinguish a situation in which a State had actually banned sales of lower priced alcohol within the State and had then, through a ban of advertising by out-of-state sellers, sought to keep residents ignorant of the fact that lower priced alcohol was legally available in other States. Cf. United States v. Edge Broadcasting Co., 509 U. S. 418 (1993). See ante, at 508-510.
The outcome in Edge may well be in conflict with the principles espoused in Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy and ratified by me today. See Edge, supra, at 436-439 (Stevens, J., dissenting). (In Edge, respondent did not put forth the broader principles adopted in Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy, but rather argued that the advertising restriction did not have a sufficiently close fit under Central Hudson.) Because the issue of restrictions on advertising of products or services to be purchased legally outside a State that has itself banned or regulated the same purchases within the State is not squarely presented in this case, I will not address here whether the decision in Edge can be reconciled with the position I take today.
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