Discussion

 

In

Rubin v. Coors, 514 U.S. 476 (1995)

, the Supreme Court held that a federal statute and related regulations that prevented Coors from disclosing the alcohol content on its beer labels and in product advertising was a violation of Coors’ constitutional right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment. Based on this case answer the following questions:

• Why does it make a difference whether the speech in which Coors was engaged (disclosure of the alcohol content) was commercial speech or noncommercial speech?
• What type of speech (commercial or noncommercial) did the Supreme Court determine that Coors was engaged in?
• Suppose Coors started to sell cocaine and wanted to disclose the purity of their cocaine on the packaging and in their advertisements. What type of speech would this be? Would disclosure of the purity of the cocaine be protected under the First Amendment?

Your initial response should be a minimum of 200 words.