Cheers to the court

The announcement by several liquor companies that they will abandon their self-imposed ban on television advertising has been met with consternation by Democratic and Republican Party spokesmen alike. In the advent of recent Supreme Court decisions expanding protection for liquor advertising, any new law that imposes a blanket ban on television liquor ads will probably not survive judicial review. Last term the Supreme Court handed down a decision, 44 Liquormart Inc. v. Rhode Island, that is destined to have a profound impact not only on liquor price advertising but also on the free flow of commercial speech generally.