Bigelow v. Commonwealth of Virginia

"Bigelow v. Commonwealth of Virginia", 421 U.S. 809 (1974) [ [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=421&page=809 421 U.S. 809] Full text of the opinion courtesy of Findlaw.com.] , was a case from the 1974 term of the Supreme Court of the United States. It established First Amendment protection for advertising. [Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun. Times Books. 2005. Page 119.]

Background

Court precedents had long considered advertising mere "commercial speech," giving it little, if any, protection under the First Amendment. [Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun. Times Books. 2005. Page 116.]

In 1972, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a Supreme Court appeal on behalf of a newspaper editor in Charlottesville, Virginia who had published an advertisement for an abortion referral service in New York (where abortion was legal). [Greenhouse, Pages 116-117] Virginia charged the editor, Jeffrey C. Bigelow, with violating a state law that made it a crime to encourage abortions via lectures, advertisements, or any other manner.Greenhouse, Page 117] Bigelow was convicted and fined; the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed his conviction, rejecting his First Amendment challenge by pointing to the lowered protections on commercial advertisements.

"Roe v. Wade" was pending when Bigelow's appeal first reached the Supreme Court, leading the justices to defer action. After "Roe" was decided, the justices remanded "Bigelow" to Virginia, but the state court reaffirmed Bigelow's conviction; Bigelow filed a new appeal to the Supreme Court.

Opinion

Justices William Rehnquist and Byron White cast the only votes to uphold the conviction. [Greenhouse, Pages 117-118] Justice Blackmun wrote the majority opinion, and was joined by Justices Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart, William Brennan, William O. Douglas, Warren E. Burger, and Lewis Powell. [Greenhouse, Page 118]

Justice Harry Blackmun wrote that the First Amendment "should prevent states from prohibiting advertisements of products or conduct that is clearly legal at the place advertised."

The decision was announced June 16, 1975.Greenhouse, Page 119]

Aftermath

"Bigelow" was used as precedent in a case in the 1975 term of the Court. In "Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council", Blackmun struck down a state law that prohibited pharmacists from advertising the prices of prescription drugs. Justice William Rehnquist was the only dissenter. [Greenhouse, Page 120]

References