Commercial Speech - First Amendment

This lesson covers First Amendment doctrine and theory pertaining to commercial speech. The lesson considers the development of commercial speech from unprotected to protected speech; the applicable constitutional tests for evaluating commercial speech, the doctrine regarding mandated disclosures in commercial contexts, and recent cases decided by the Roberts Court considering commercial speech.

The lesson assumes familiarity with the landmark cases and is best used as review or as an asynchronous class.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Analyze the issues of commercial speech in the context of the First Amendment
2. Describe the cases in which the category of commercial speech moved to the protection of the First Amendment.
3. Discuss the case of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission and its importance in commercial speech cases.