Opinion ID: 446772
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the applicable level of first amendment scrutiny

Text: 30 We are confronted in this case by a regulation that infringes on the right of AFS to disseminate, and of the Penn State students to receive, information directly related to the sale and purchase of AFS merchandise by the students. 23 As a threshold matter, we must determine the nature of this information for first amendment purposes, because there can be no doubt that the Constitution accords less protection to commercial speech than to other constitutionally safeguarded forms of expression. Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp., 463 U.S. 60, 103 S.Ct. 2875, 2879, 77 L.Ed.2d 469 (1983); see also Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission of New York, 447 U.S. 557, 562-63, 100 S.Ct. 2343, 2349-50, 65 L.Ed.2d 341 (1980); Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Association, 436 U.S. 447, 455-56, 98 S.Ct. 1912, 1918-19, 56 L.Ed.2d 444 (1978). 24 31 AFS and the students argue that, because there are substantial educational, social, and cultural aspects to the AFS demonstrations, these demonstrations are entitled to the first amendment protection afforded pure speech, as opposed to the lesser protection applicable to commercial speech. In support of this position, two of the students testified about the non-commercial utility of the demonstrations, and two experts testified about their educational value. 25 The district court concluded on the basis of this testimony that the communicative process at issue here, at least with respect to the students, does not involve solely commercial speech. AFS, 568 F.Supp. at 669. 32 The district court's reliance on the testimony concerning the non-commercial aspects of the demonstrations was misplaced. In Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp., 463 U.S. 60, 103 S.Ct. 2875, 77 L.Ed.2d 469 (1983), the Supreme Court confronted an argument very similar to that advanced here by AFS and the students. Youngs was engaged in the sale of contraceptive devices, and part of its advertising involved the mailing of pamphlets explaining the usefulness of condoms in avoiding venereal infection. The Court noted that the pamphlets were not within the core notion of commercial speech because they did more than simply propose a commercial transaction. Nonetheless, the Court held that, taken together, three factors provided strong support for a conclusion that the speech was commercial: (1) the speech involved was conceded to be an advertisement; (2) the speech referred to a specific product; and (3) the speaker had an economic motive for making the speech. The Court explained that mere discussion of important public issues in advertisements does not render them non-commercial. Id. 103 S.Ct. at 2880-81. 33 We believe that this aspect of the case sub judice is controlled by Bolger. As in Bolger, the speech here is essentially an advertisement of AFS's wares, it specifically refers to AFS's products, and AFS's motivation for engaging in the speech is purely economic. There may be cases in which the character of the speech is unclear and in which testimony concerning the motivation of the listeners and the educational or social value of the speech might be relevant in determining whether the speech is commercial or pure for first amendment purposes. 26 However, cases of this type will be rare, and this is not one of them. On the record before us, the speech in question is commercial as a matter of law. 34 Moreover, we do not believe, as the district court apparently did, that the speech at issue can be commercial for purposes of determining AFS's rights but pure for purposes of determining the students' rights. The Bolger criteria are employed to discern whether speech is, in its essence, part and parcel of a proposed commercial transaction. It is this connection to a commercial transaction that justifies the government's greater role in regulating the speech: such speech is more subject to abuse and less likely to be chilled by regulation than other types of communication. See Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U.S. 748, 771 n. 24, 96 S.Ct. 1817, 1830 n. 24, 48 L.Ed.2d 346 (1976). Although, as we noted above, the motivation of the listeners may occasionally be relevant to a conclusion about whether the speech is commercial, the essential nature of the speech remains unchanged regardless of whose rights are being adjudicated, and the same test should be used whether it is the speaker's or the listeners' rights that are at stake. Thus, for the students as well as AFS, the speech here was undoubtedly commercial. 35 This conclusion, however, forces us to confront an unusual situation: the intersection between government regulation of commercial speech and the regulation of speech on government-owned property. Although the Supreme Court has set up a detailed analytic framework for determining the constitutionality of regulations in each of these situations, it has not, to our knowledge, been faced with the question of what test should be employed when both factors are present. If the two modes of analysis were equally applicable to the facts of this case, we would have to determine whether they yielded different results, and, if so, we would have to choose between them in determining the validity of Penn State's regulation. 36 The analysis developed by the Supreme Court for speech on government property and the one for commercial speech are not, however, equally applicable to this case. In order to determine which of two government property tests to employ, we would have to decide whether student dormitory rooms are public or non-public forums. See infra pp. 863 - 64. For the reasons detailed below, see infra p. 864, we believe that dormitory rooms do not fit neatly into either the public forum or the non-public forum mold. As a result, neither analytic framework set out by the Court for speech on government property is completely appropriate here. Our best course of action, therefore, is to pursue the mode of analysis developed by the Supreme Court for cases involving commercial speech; we believe that this analysis is flexible enough to permit a thorough and proper weighing of all the factors and interests involved in this case. 37 In Central Hudson Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Service Commission of New York, 447 U.S. 557, 100 S.Ct. 2343, 65 L.Ed.2d 341 (1980), the Supreme Court set out a four-part test for assessing the validity of restrictions on commercial speech. In accordance with this test, we must first determine whether the speech at issue concerns lawful activity and is not misleading; speech failing this initial part of the test is not entitled to any first amendment protection. Second, we must examine the government's asserted interests in regulating the speech, and we may uphold the regulation only if it is based on a substantial government interest. Third, we must ascertain whether the regulation directly advances the asserted governmental interest. Finally, we must be convinced that the regulation is no more extensive than necessary to carry out the government's objective. Id. at 566, 100 S.Ct. at 2351; see also Bolger, 103 S.Ct. at 2881; AFS II, 688 F.2d at 913. We turn to application of the Central Hudson test.