The Supreme Court unanimously overturned a ruling against New York merchants that wanted to charge customers for using credit cards and sent the case back for the court to determine if the state law violates the store owners’ First Amendment rights.
Five New York businesses and owners seeking to impose surcharges for credit card use filed suit against state officials saying that a state law preventing the surcharges violated the petitioners’ First Amendment rights by regulating how they communicate their prices. Credit card companies charge stores typically 2 or 3 percent when a customer charges a purchase.
A District Court ruled for the merchants, but the Court of Appeals vacated that judgment. In deciding the Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman case on Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts’ unanimous opinion overturned the appeals court’s decision and determined that the law did regulate speech.
“We conclude that [the New York law] does regulate speech and remand for the Court of Appeals to determine in the first instance whether that regulation is unconstitutional,” Roberts wrote. “The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
Questions about how and to what degree the First Amendment protects commercial speech could come before the Supreme Court again.
