574
Opinion of Thomas, J.
press the message conveyed by any of the signs, but simply to minimize the esthetic effect of visual clutter. Likewise, the ordinance in Renton was aimed not at expression, but at the "secondary effects" caused by adult businesses.
The regulations here are very different. Massachusetts is not concerned with any "secondary effects" of tobacco advertising—it is concerned with the advertising's primary effect, which is to induce those who view the advertisements to purchase and use tobacco products. Cf. Boos v. Barry, 485 U. S. 312, 321 (1988) ("Listeners' reactions to speech are not the type of 'secondary effects' we referred to in Renton"). In other words, it seeks to suppress speech about tobacco because it objects to the content of that speech. We have consistently applied strict scrutiny to such content-based regulations of speech. See, e. g., Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC, 512 U. S. 622, 641-643 (1994).
A
There was once a time when this Court declined to give any First Amendment protection to commercial speech. In Valentine v. Chrestensen, 316 U. S. 52 (1942), the Court went so far as to say that "the Constitution imposes [no] restraint on government as respects purely commercial advertising." Id., at 54. That position was repudiated in Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U. S. 748 (1976), which explained that even speech "which does 'no more than propose a commercial transaction' " is protected by the First Amendment. Id., at 762 (quoting Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Comm'n on Human Relations, 413 U. S. 376, 385 (1973)). Since then, the Court has followed an uncertain course—much of the uncertainty being generated by the malleability of the four-part balancing test of Central Hudson. See 44 Liquormart, 517 U. S., at 520- 522 (Thomas, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment).
Page: Index Previous 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007