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Cav daily sues Virginia ABC over alcohol advertising |
Just one of the many things protected by the freedom of speech? Advertisements for booze in college newspapers. Last week, a federal judge struck down a Virginia state law that prohibits student newspapers from running advertising for alcohol references, thanks to a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the student papers at UVA and Virginia Tech, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. District Magistrate Judge Hannah Lauck ruled that the law banning ads for alcohol in student newspapers and another that limits words in ads violate the First Amendment. UVA’s Cavalier Daily and Virginia Tech’s Collegiate Times estimated that they were losing $30,000 every year in advertising thanks to the ban. The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control argued that the rules helped curb underage drinking.
Since we all know that Wahoos drink like fish anyway, it may be hard for underage consumption to get any worse. Perhaps if undergrads extend their usual Thursday-Sunday benders to start on Tuesdays, then maybe the ABC board was right after all.
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