Opinion ID: 1697290
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Advertisement of Sexual Devices

Text: ¶ 18. The advertising done by the vendor plaintiffs is a paradigm of purely commercial speech. It is speech which does no more than propose a commercial transaction, and which is related solely to the economic interests of the speaker and its audience. Central Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Public Service Comm'n, 447 U.S. 557, 561, 100 S.Ct. 2343, 2349, 65 L.Ed.2d 341, 348 (1980); Va. State Bd. of Pharmacy v. Va. Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U.S. 748, 762, 96 S.Ct. 1817, 1825, 48 L.Ed.2d 346, 358 (1976). Not all commercial speech enjoys First Amendment protection. Central Hudson, 447 U.S. at 566, 100 S.Ct. at 2351, 65 L.Ed.2d at 351. Only commercial speech which concerns lawful activity and which is not misleading is protected by the First Amendment. Id. at 566, 100 S.Ct. at 2351, 65 L.Ed.2d at 351. States may ban commercial speech which is related to illegal activity. Id. at 564, 100 S.Ct. at 2350, 65 L.Ed.2d at 349. ¶ 19. We find that, since § 97-29-105 makes the sale of sexual devices illegal, advertising the sexual devices is not protected by the right to free speech. In other words, the advertisements would propose an illegal transaction  i.e., an unlawful sale of sexual devices.