ABSTRACT
In Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 US 748, the US Supreme Court provided some resolution to the confusion it had previously created in commercial speech cases and made clear that such speech enjoyed First Amendment protection. A consumer group challenged the law as violating both the pharmacists' right to speak and the public's right to receive information. The Board of Pharmacy case stands for the proposition that the First Amendment forbids the government to prohibit truthful speech about legal products and services. In Valentine v. Chrestensen, 316 US 52, the Supreme Court had held that "purely commercial advertising" was not protected by the First Amendment's guarantees of free speech and press. In a seven- one decision, with only Justice William H. Rehnquist dissenting, the Court held the law violated the First Amendment's protections of speech and press.
