502
Souter, J., dissenting
scope is in proportion to the interest served." Board of Trustees of State Univ. of N. Y. v. Fox, 492 U. S., at 480 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). This sense of fitness is not precise, to be sure, but it rules out a regulation if "far less restrictive and more precise means" are available. Id., at 479 (internal quotation marks omitted). Respondents argue that the mandatory advertising schemes for California peaches, plums, and nectarines fail this narrow tailoring requirement, because they deny handlers any credit toward their assessments for some or all of their individual advertising expenditures. The point is well taken. On its face, at least, a credit system would be a far less restrictive and more precise way to achieve the Government's stated interests, eliminating as it would much of the burden on respondents' speech without diminishing the total amount of advertising for a particular commodity. Indeed, the remarkable thing is that the AMAA itself provides for exactly such credits for individual advertising expenditures under marketing orders for almonds, filberts, raisins, walnuts, olives, and Florida Indian River grapefruit, but not for other commodities. 7 U. S. C. § 608c(6)(I).
The Secretary contends, however, that the purpose of individual "branded" advertising is to increase the market share of a single handler, and so is at odds with the purpose of the Government's mandatory program, which is to expand the overall size of the market through the use of "generic" advertising for a commodity generally. See also FAIR Act §§ 501(b)(6), (7), 110 Stat. 1030-1031 (congressional finding of same). Perhaps so, but that does not tell us what to make of the credit for, say, private raisin advertising. It would be hard to imagine more effectively "branded" advertising than promotions for Sun-Maid raisins, but the statute would allow Sun-Maid a credit. Why would that be consistent with the Government's generic objective, but a credit for respondents' nectarine ads not be? The Government gives us no answer. Without some further explanation, the statute on raisin ad-
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