Opinion ID: 199007
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: First Amendment Challenge to Restrictions on Retail Practices

Text: 77 The manufacturers of smokeless tobacco and cigars also challenge the restrictions imposed by the Massachusetts regulations on the use of self-service displays as a retail outlet practice. See 940 C.M.R. § 22.06. The district court held that this practice is not protected by the First Amendment because it does not constitute speech. Although the issue is by no means an easy one, we agree and affirm. 78 On appeal, the tobacco companies argue that self-service displays are a specialized mode of speech that communicates information to the consumer and proposes a commercial transaction in much the same way as does advertising. Although we accept the tobacco companies' proposition that self-service displays often do have some communicative commercial function (covered as they often are in logos and other advertising mechanisms), the actual restriction imposed by the regulations is not on speech, but rather on the physical location of actual tobacco products. A familiar analogy illustrates this point. If sellers are so inclined, we see nothing in the regulations prohibiting them from displaying empty tobacco product containers in display cases, so long as no actual tobacco product is so displayed. In that circumstance, just like at the local video store, the consumer can peruse the relevant commercial information at his or her leisure before approaching the sales counter to make an actual purchase. For the vast majority of tobacco products, nearly all of which are distributed in sealed packaging which the consumer may not open and inspect before purchase, we think that this type of regulation poses no cognizable burden on speech, and any secondary imposition is surely so narrow as to be justified by the significant interests served by the regulations. 79 We do recognize that the sale of higher-end cigars poses a somewhat different circumstance. According to the cigar manufacturers, cigar retailers traditionally allow consumers pre-purchase access to cigars so that the consumer may make his or her selection on the basis of a number of objective and subjective factors including the aroma and feel of the cigar. Unlike the distribution of packaged cigars and little cigars, this specialized retail practice would in fact be burdened by prohibitions on self-service displays, and would implicate Central Hudson scrutiny if the First Amendment applies to such a retail practice. 80 However, we need not decide whether this particular form of self-service retail practice constitutes commercial speech protected by the First Amendment, because the regulations pass muster under Central Hudson even assuming arguendo that the commercial speech analysis applies. For the reasons set forth at length above, we conclude that the Attorney General has adequately demonstrated the substantial nature of the state's interests, as well as the general proposition that restrictions on advertising and promotion may reasonably be expected to directly advance those interests. It is apparent that limiting self-service displays and placing tobacco products behind the sales counter will aid in the Commonwealth's efforts to curb the sale of tobacco products to underage consumers and directly advance the state's goals. Finally, the regulations are more than sufficiently tailored to the goals of the regulation, not only because they leave open retail schemes such as those used by video stores, but also because the prohibition on self-service displays does not apply to [s]elf-service displays that are located within adult-only retail facilities. 940 C.M.R. § 22.06(3)(c). A tobacco specialty store can therefore avoid any burden presented by the regulation by simply closing the store to children, who cannot lawfully purchase tobacco products in any event. We find the fit between ends and means to be very reasonable, and we therefore conclude that the restrictions on self-service displays are constitutional. 81