ABSTRACT
Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission of New York, 447 US 557, for the first time established a test for the courts to use in commercial speech cases. In the 1970s, the US Supreme Court in a series of cases had interpreted the First Amendment speech and press clauses to protect commercial speech. In each of these cases, the Court consistently noted, however, that commercial speech received less protection than did political speech. For example, false or misleading commercial speech and speech that advertised products or services that were themselves illegal were not protected by the First Amendment. The Public Service Commission of New York argued that the regulation was necessary in order to conserve energy supplies, whereas Central Hudson Gas and Electric claimed First Amendment protection for its commercial speech on the basis of the precedents set in Bigelow, Board of Pharmacy, and Bates.
