Opinion ID: 1406050
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Free Speech Under the United States Constitution

Text: The state's power to regulate speech depends on the distinction between commercial and noncommercial speech. High Gear & Toke Shop v. Beacom, 689 P.2d 624, 629 (Colo.1984). Commercial speech is speech proposing a commercial transaction. Central Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Public Serv. Comm'n, 447 U.S. 557, 563, 100 S.Ct. 2343, 2350, 65 L.Ed.2d 341 (1980); May v. People, 636 P.2d 672, 675 n. 6 (Colo.1981); see also Central Hudson Gas, 447 U.S. at 561, 100 S.Ct. at 2348-49 (Commercial speech is expression related solely to the economic interest of the speaker and its audience.); Comment, Commercial Speech: A Proposed Definition, 27 Howard L.J. 1015, 1023-27 (1984). The first amendment, as applied to the states through the fourteenth amendment, protects commercial speech from unwarranted governmental regulation. Virginia Pharmacy Bd. v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, 425 U.S. 748, 761-62, 96 S.Ct. 1817, 1825-26, 48 L.Ed.2d 346 (1976). The constitution, however, accords a lesser protection to commercial speech than to other constitutionally guaranteed expression. Central Hudson Gas, 447 U.S. at 562-63, 100 S.Ct. at 2349-50; High Gear & Toke Shop, 689 P.2d at 629. The government may regulate or ban entirely commercial speech related to an illegal activity. High Gear & Toke Shop, 689 P.2d at 629; Florida Businessmen for Free Enter. v. City of Hollywood, 673 F.2d 1213, 1217 (11th Cir.1982). Illegal activity is not confined to malum in se crimes, but extends to conduct the legislature declares to be illegal. See, e.g., Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Comm'n on Human Relations, 413 U.S. 376, 388, 93 S.Ct. 2553, 2560, 37 L.Ed.2d 669 (1973). A statute regulating commercial speech must satisfy the following four part test in order to pass constitutional scrutiny: At the outset, we must determine whether the expression is protected by the First Amendment. For commercial speech to come within that provision, it at least must concern lawful activity and not be misleading. Next, we ask whether the asserted governmental interest is substantial. If both inquiries yield positive answers, we must determine whether the regulation directly advances the governmental interest asserted, and whether it is not more extensive than is necessary to serve that interest. Central Hudson Gas, 447 U.S. at 566, 100 S.Ct. at 2351; May, 636 P.2d at 678. In this case, whatever commercial speech may be implicated in advertising a willingness to engage in the regular business practice of waiving patient fees is not protected by the first amendment because it fails the first part of the Central Hudson Gas test. Although the speech in question is not misleading, it does not concern lawful activity. We therefore hold that section 18-13-119 may prohibit the constitutionally unprotected activity of advertising a willingness to engage in the regular business of waiving the deductible copayment without violating the appellants' right to free speech. [8] 2.