The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Wednesday that laws banning restaurants from advertising their specific alcohol specials violate the First Amendment.
The laws at issue allowed retailers to use generic advertisements for discounted alcohol sales, such as advertising a happy hour. However, the laws prohibited retailers from advertising actual prices of alcoholic drinks outside of their own business.
The court found that the law was not “narrowly tailored to further its interest,” which was to decrease “overconsumption or underage drinking.” Because the law was not narrowly tailored to achieving this interest, the court found that the law violated the First Amendment.