The California Supreme Court ruled Nike's communications — including press releases and letters to newspaper editors — constituted "commercial speech,"... Corporate America's Right to Free Speech:
Center Files Brief with Supreme Court in Nike Case

Arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court should either clarify or abandon existing commercial speech doctrine, the Center for Individual Freedom today files an amicus brief before the High Court in Nike, Inc. v. Kasky.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed in 1998 by California anti-business activist Marc Kasky, who alleged Nike's public relations campaign in defense of attacks against its overseas labor practices constituted false or misleading advertising. The suit was filed under California's notorious Unfair Competition Law, also known as Section 17200 of the state's Business and Professions Code.

The California Supreme Court ruled Nike's communications — including press releases and letters to newspaper editors — constituted "commercial speech," a designation that stripped Nike's statements of full First Amendment protection and placed them in the same category as the company's explicit product advertisements.

To download a copy of the Center's brief, click here.

For more information on the Nike case and commercial speech doctrine, download Free Speech in a Commercial World: The Nike Paradox.

February 28, 2003
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