Opinion ID: 1882186
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether Section 817.234(8), Florida Statutes (1997), Constitutes an Impermissible Restriction on Commercial Speech in Violation of the First Amendment.

Text: Statutes or regulations which restrict commercial speech are analyzed under the framework established by the United States Supreme Court in Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission, 447 U.S. 557, 100 S.Ct. 2343, 65 L.Ed.2d 341 (1980). [8] See also Florida Bar v. Went For It, Inc., U.S. 761 (1993); Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Ass'n, 486 U.S. 466, 108 S.Ct. 1916, 100 L.Ed.2d 475 (1988); Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, 471 U.S. 626, 105 S.Ct. 2265, 85 L.Ed.2d 652 (1985); see generally P. Cameron DeVore, Advertising and Commercial Speech, (PLI Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks & Literary Property Course, Series 582, 1999). Under the Central Hudson test, the State may regulate commercial speech relating to unlawful activities, and commercial speech that is misleading. See 447 U.S. at 563-64, 100 S.Ct. 2343. Commercial speech which does not fall into either of those categories, however, may still be regulated if the State meets its burden of establishing the following three related requirements. See id. at 564-66, 100 S.Ct. 2343. First, the State must establish a substantial interest in support of the restriction on commercial speech. See id. Second, the State must also show that the restriction directly and materially advances that substantial interest. See id. Finally, the State must demonstrate that the regulation is narrowly tailored. See id. At the outset, we must answer the threshold question of whether the commercial speech being regulated by this case concerns unlawful activity or is misleading. In this case, it is clear to us, and the State readily concedes, that the commercial speech regulated in this case does not relate to an unlawful activity and is not misleading. Thus, we must proceed to determine whether the State has carried its burden of satisfying the three-prong test set forth by Central Hudson.