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A federal appeals court has ruled that student newspapers can publish advertisements for alcohol and that a ban on the ads is unconstitutional.

The decision was made Sept. 25 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Before the decision was reached, a ban by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board had been in place in an effort to combat underage and abusive college drinking. Under the ban, alcohol could only be promoted as part of an ad for a “dining establishment.”

The two college newspapers that fought the ban are The Cavalier Daily at the University of Virginia and Educational Media Company at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (a.k.a. Virginia Tech).

Writing for the majority, Judge Stephanie D. Thacker noted that the ban on alcohol ads was unconstitutional because “it prohibits large numbers of adults who are 21 years of age or older from receiving truthful information about a product that they are legally allowed to consume.”

She also noted that, according to statistics, the majority of the readers for those college newspapers are old enough to purchase alcohol.

“Roughly 60 percent of the Collegiate Times’ readership is age 21 or older and the Cavalier Daily reaches approximately 10,000 students, nearly 64 percent of whom are age 21 or older. Thus, the college newspapers have a protected interest in printing non-misleading alcohol advertisements, just as a majority of the college newspapers’ readers have a protected interest in receiving that information.”

One of the three appellate judges disagreed.

“Virginia has devised a comprehensive, multifaceted approach to combat what is acknowledged to be a serious problem — underage and abusive drinking, — as well as the associated problems of increased fatal and nonfatal motor vehicle crashes, vandalism, suicide attempts, homicide, non-motor vehicle-related injuries, sexual violence and unprotected sexual encounters,” wrote Judge Dennis Wayne Shedd. “This comprehensive plan adopted by Virginia only minimally impacts commercial speech by attempting to limit advertising aimed at a targeted market which includes a substantial percentage of readers for whom use of the product is illegal. Virginia’s approach does not prohibit all advertising for alcohol which will reach this audience; it is a minor limitation on such advertising in college newspapers as part of a comprehensive plan to address a very serious problem.”

However, Dr. Jon P. Nelson, an economics professor at Pennsylvania State University, testified for the plaintiffs that advertising bans do not reduce the demand for alcohol.

The debate is likely to continue.

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By: KJ Mushung

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