Cite as: 518 U. S. 727 (1996)
Opinion of Thomas, J.
ened the operators' First Amendment interests to those of broadcasters subject to Red Lion's right of access requirement. 476 U. S., at 494-495.
Five years later, in Leathers v. Medlock, 499 U. S. 439 (1991), we dropped any reference to the relaxed scrutiny permitted by Red Lion. Arkansas had subjected cable operators to the State's general sales tax, while continuing to exempt newspapers, magazines, and scrambled satellite broadcast television. Cable operators, among others, challenged the tax on First Amendment grounds, arguing that the State could not discriminatorily apply the tax to some, but not all, members of the press. Though we ultimately upheld the tax scheme because it was not content based, we agreed with the operators that they enjoyed the protection of the First Amendment. We found that cable operators engage in speech by providing news, information, and entertainment to their subscribers and that they are "part of the 'press.' " 499 U. S., at 444.
Two Terms ago, in Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC, 512 U. S. 622 (1994), we stated expressly what we had implied in Leathers: The Red Lion standard does not apply to cable television. 512 U. S., at 637 ("[T]he rationale for applying a less rigorous standard of First Amendment scrutiny to broadcast regulation . . . does not apply in the context of cable regulation"); id., at 639 ("[A]pplication of the more relaxed standard of scrutiny adopted in Red Lion and the other broadcast cases is inapt when determining the First Amendment validity of cable regulation"). While Members of the Court disagreed about whether the must-carry rules imposed by Congress were content based, and therefore subject to strict scrutiny, there was agreement that cable operators are generally entitled to much the same First Amendment protection as the print media. But see id., at 670 (Stevens, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment) ("Cable operators' control of essential facilities provides a
815
Page: Index Previous 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007