Pennsylvania Alcohol Ad Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

The Pennsylvania legislature erred in 1996 when it passed a law banning alcohol ads from college newspapers, the 3rd U.S. Court of Appeals ruled last week.

The Associated Press reported July 30 that a three-member court panel ruled in favor of The Pitt, a student-run newspaper out of the University of Pittsburgh, saying that the ban violated advertisers' free-speech rights and hindered the newspaper economically. The court termed speculative the state's contention that the ban would ease underage students' demand for alcohol.

"Even if Pitt students do not see alcoholic beverage ads in The Pitt News, they will still be exposed to a torrent of beer ads on television and the radio, and they will still see alcoholic beverage ads in other publications, including the other free weekly Pittsburgh papers that are displayed on campus together with The Pitt News," wrote Judge Samuel Alito.

The court also rejected the state's strategy of barring school newspapers from accepting payment for alcohol ads, rather than banning them outright -- a tactic intended to avoid a free-speech argument in court. "If government were free to suppress disfavored speech by preventing potential speakers from being paid, there would not be much left of the First Amendment," wrote Alito.

The Pitt lost an estimated $17,000 in ad revenue after the law passed. The paper's managing editor said The Pitt agreed with the goal of preventing underage drinking, but said 70 percent of the paper's readers were over age 21.