Valentine v. Chrestensen

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Valentine v. Chrestensen
2d Cir. 1941); cert. granted, 314 U.S.
604 (1941).
Holding
Commercial speech in public thoroughfares is not constitutionally protected.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Harlan F. Stone
Associate Justices
Owen Roberts · Hugo Black
Stanley F. Reed · Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas · Frank Murphy
James F. Byrnes · Robert H. Jackson
Case opinion
MajorityRoberts, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I
Overruled by
Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976)

Valentine v. Chrestensen, 316 U.S. 52 (1942), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that commercial speech in public thoroughfares is not constitutionally protected.[1][2]

Background

Respondent F. J. Chrestensen was the owner of the

Sanitary Code) prohibiting the distribution of printed handbills in the streets bearing "commercial advertising
matter".

The

and Valentine petitioned to the Supreme Court.

Opinion of the Court

The Supreme Court reversed the Second Circuit's ruling, finding that, although states and municipalities may not unduly burden free expression in the streets, the Constitution did not prevent the government from regulating purely commercial advertising. Writing for the majority, Associate Justice Owen Roberts held that it was the prerogative of the legislature to determine whether an activity interfered with the full and free public use of the streets, and thus the presence and extent of commercial activity was a matter reserved for legislative judgement. The Court found in addition that Chrestensen's affixing of the protest to his handbill was done with the sole intent of evading the municipal ordinance and therefore did not permit his distribution of the handbill.[1]

Subsequent developments

Valentine was the first major case to address the limits of "commercial speech",[4] but it was later "abruptly" overturned by Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976).[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Valentine v. Chrestensen, 316 U.S. 52 (1942).
  2. ^ a b "Today in 1942: SCOTUS Rules That the First Amendment Doesn't Protect Commercial Speech". Legal Research Blog. Thomson Reuters. April 13, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  3. ^ Chrestensen v. Valentine, 122 F.2d 511 (2d Cir. 1941).
  4. ^ Olive, S.M. "Timeline of commercial speech cases". The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  5. ^ Morrison, Alan B. (2004). "How We Got the Commercial Speech Doctrine: An Originalist's Recollections". Case Western Reserve Law Review. 54 (4): 1189. Retrieved January 26, 2018.

Further reading

External links