Supreme Court Lets Stand Virginia’s Ban on Alcohol Ads in Student Newspapers

In April a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of a state regulation barring alcohol advertising in student-run publications. On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court said it would essentially uphold that ruling by refusing to hear an appeal from the college newspapers at the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. As is customary, the Supreme Court’s announcement came without comment, even though one of its members, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., issued a contradictory ruling six years ago, while serving on a federal appeals court, in a case involving the University of Pittsburgh’s campus newspaper. The Virginia regulation, initially rejected by a federal district-court judge, was adopted in order to curtail underage drinking.