Advertising Regulations on Sexually Oriented Business: How Far Is Too Far

In recent decades, various courts have held that the First Amendment extends to commercial speech . Although the level of protection afforded to commercial speech differs from that given to non-commercial speech, these courts have held that the First Amendment protects commercial speech that is neither misleading nor concerns illegal activities. Under such a framework, in order to regulate commercial speech, the government must demonstrate that the regulation directly advances a substantial interest and is no more restrictive than necessary to serve that interest. In Passions Video, Inc. v. Nixon, a group of business owners challenged a Missouri statute that restricted the location of advertisements by sexuallyoriented businesses and adult cabarets. The Eighth Circuit held that the restriction unconstitutionally abridged commercial speech. This Note argues that the court correctly found that the regulations were not narrowly tailored to serve the asserted government interest, and that the court took an important step in recognizing the importance of the free flow of information in a democracy and free-market economy