660
Stevens, J., concurring
come Nike's First Amendment defense. However, given the interlocutory posture of the case before us today, the Court could also take a number of other paths that would neither preclude further proceedings in the state courts, nor finally resolve the First Amendment questions in this case. For example, if we were to affirm, Nike would almost certainly continue to maintain that some, if not all, of its challenged statements were protected by the First Amendment and that the First Amendment constrains the remedy that may be imposed. Or, if we were to reverse, we might hold that the speech at issue in this case is subject to suit only if made with actual malice, thereby inviting respondent to amend his complaint to allege such malice. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 42-43. Or we might conclude that some of Nike's speech is commercial and some is noncommercial, thereby requiring further proceedings in the state courts over the legal standards that govern the commercial speech, including whether actual malice must be proved.
In short, because an opinion on the merits in this case could take any one of a number of different paths, it is not clear whether reversal of the California Supreme Court would "be preclusive of any further litigation on the relevant cause of action [in] the state proceedings still to come." Cox, 420 U. S., at 482-483. Nor is it clear that reaching the merits of Nike's claims now would serve the goal of judicial efficiency. For, even if we were to decide the First Amendment issues presented to us today, more First Amendment issues might well remain in this case, making piecemeal review of the Federal First Amendment issues likely. See Flynt v. Ohio, 451 U. S. 619, 621 (1981) (per curiam) (noting that in most, if not all, of the cases falling within the four Cox exceptions, there was "no probability of piecemeal review with respect to federal issues"). Accordingly, in my view, the judgment of the California Supreme Court does not fall within the fourth Cox exception and cannot be regarded as final.
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