Capital Cities Cable, Inc., et al. v. Crisp, Director, Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (467 U.S. 691)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 18, 1984 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 467 U.S. 691 · 104 S. Ct. 2694
- Decided
- June 18, 1984
- Term
- October Term 1983
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Brennan
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Brennan delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented in this case is whether Oklahoma may require cable television operators in that State to delete all advertisements for alcoholic beverages contained in the out-of-state signals that they retransmit by cable to their subscribers. Petitioners contend that Oklahoma’s requirement abridges their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and is pre-empted by federal law. Because we conclude that this state regulation is pre-empted, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and do not reach the First Amendment question. Since 1959, it has been lawful to sell and consume alcoholic beverages in Oklahoma. The State Constitution, however, as well as implementing statutes, prohibits the advertising of such beverages, except by means of strictly regulated on-premises signs. For several years, pursuant to this authority, Oklahoma has prohibited television broadcasting stations in the State from broadcasting alcoholic beverage commercials as part of their locally produced programming and has required these stations to block out all such advertising carried on national network programming. See Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Control Board v. Heublein Wines, Int’l, 566 P. 2d 1158, 1160 (Okla. 1977). At the same time, the Oklahoma Attorney General has ruled — principally because of the…
Excerpt of a 47,839-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.