Virginia State Pharmacy Board V. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council - Dissent

Dissent

Justice Rehnquist was the lone dissenter in this case. He lamented the majority’s decision to elevate the advertisement of products to the level of the ideological “marketplace of ideas”, feeling that this was an overextension of First Amendment doctrine. He used a type of slippery slope argument to describe the potential consequences of this decision; specifically, he worried that this ruling would allow the promotion of consumption of liquor, cigarettes, and other products which states had traditionally tried to discourage. He indirectly hearkened back to the Lochner era economic due process cases, accusing the court of writing its own economic policy into the law, when such a regulation should be within the police power of the state. He pointed to the potentially misleading nature of commercial speech, and suggested that consumers who truly needed such information could easily seek it out themselves. He concluded by arguing that the majority has not only failed to accord proper weight to the judgment of the Virginia State Legislature, but that the protection of the First Amendment ought to be limited to political and social issues.