Opinion ID: 201623
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Demonstration of harms

Text: 21 DACO alleges that the harm Article 24 prevents is difficulty enforcing the Regulation's consumer protections against nonresident advertisers. Article 24 addresses this harm, according to DACO, by providing a mechanism for in personam jurisdiction over, and funds for the payment of fines or damages charged to, advertisers who often lack assets in Puerto Rico. But DACO has failed to provide any evidence, other than conclusory assertions, that nonresident advertisers pose a greater enforcement problem than resident advertisers, who are not subject to the bond requirement. Neither has it justified the distinction drawn in Article 24(B) between resident intermediaries, who must act as guarantors of their advertisers' compliance with the bond requirement, and nonresident intermediaries, who are not obliged to act as guarantors. 7 22 DACO argues that it need not provide empirical data to meet the second prong of Central Hudson, but rather that speech restrictions can be justified solely on history, consensus, and 'simple common sense.' Florida Bar v. Went For It, Inc., 515 U.S. 618, 628, 115 S.Ct. 2371, 132 L.Ed.2d 541 (1995) (quoting Burson v. Freeman, 504 U.S. 191, 211, 112 S.Ct. 1846, 119 L.Ed.2d 5 (1992)). The Supreme Court recognized in Florida Bar, however, that the government's burden is not met when a State offer[s] no evidence or anecdotes in support of its restriction. . . . Id. (emphasis in original) (explaining finding of First Amendment violation in Edenfield ). That is exactly the case here. 23 The only available evidence concerning the Regulation's enforcement directly contradicts DACO's assertion that it might have difficulty enforcing the Regulation against nonresident advertisers. DACO estimates that it imposed approximately 355 fines against resident advertisers for violations of the Regulation between March and July 2003, although it was able to collect on only 318. See Defendant's Answers to Plaintiff's Supplementary Set of Interrogatories at 3, El Día, Inc. (No. 00-2631). In contrast, there was no evidence of difficulty enforcing fines levied against nonresident advertisers. DACO has no record of any resolution or adjudication requiring execution of a bond posted by a nonresident advertiser or a resident intermediary. See Defendant's Answers to Plaintiff's First Set of Interrogatories at 5-6, El Día, Inc. (No. 00-2631). Plainly, DACO has failed to demonstrate that the harm it seeks to avoid with Article 24 is real. 24