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Constitutional Rights
Constitutions serve two general functions. First, they set up the structure of government, allocating power among its various branches and subdivisions. Second, they prevent government from taking certain actions—especially actions that restrict individual or corporate rights. It is crucial for businesspeople to understand how the U.S. Constitution performs these functions and to consider how that performance affects the government regulation of business.
CONCEPT REVIEW:
This chapter examines certain constitutional provisions that are important to business, including the commerce, tax, and spending powers of Congress, and the free speech, due process, Equal Protection and Takings Clause of the Bill of Rights.
Comprehension Case
Read the text below and answer the questions.
The law prohibits all cigarette billboards and makes it illegal for cigarette ads to be posted in shopping malls, movie theaters, stadiums, and other public spaces frequented by minors.
What type of expression is the government trying to censor with its law? What kind of protection does this type of expression receive under the Constitution?
Expert Answer
By restricting the cigarette ads to be posted in public places, the Government is trying to censor the detrimental effect of tobacco smoking on the public health. Added to this is the expression of false and deceptive advertisement of the tobacco manufacturers which leads to misleading commercial speech. But The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from “abridging the freedom of speech” including the “commercial” speech and the supposedly detrimental effect of a particular communication on the health of the public in and of itself is not considered a legitimate basis for government suppression (Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly, 533 U.S. 525). The only form of speech which is excluded from the “freedom of speech” is the speech that is either (1) obscenity, (2) fighting words, (3) incitement, or (4) defamation. We understand that advertising Tobacco products are none of the above. So, the freedom of speech of the first amendment of the US Constitution protects the expression of advertising commercial products even with health hazards.
Source:
Legal and Constitutional Perspectives on Tobacco Marketing Restrictions. (2017). cancercontrol.cancer.gov. Retrieved 8 September 2017, from
