Packer Corp. v. Utah

Background

The case involves a billboard company that displayed a large poster advertising Chesterfield cigarettes on a Salt Lake City billboard and was prosecuted under a Utah law banning most displays of tobacco advertisements on billboards, streetcar signs, and similar public places. The poster and cigarettes were made outside Utah and shipped in. The company argued the law violated the Federal Constitution; it was convicted in state court and the conviction was affirmed before the case reached this Court.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether the law unlawfully discriminated, took property or liberty without due process, or unreasonably restrained interstate commerce. The Court relied on Utah’s long history of restricting tobacco to protect young people and noted the legislature had previously narrowed the ban after a state court ruling about newspaper ads. It found a sensible difference between unavoidable outdoor displays and optional newspaper reading, so the classification was not arbitrary. The law targets the use of in‑state billboards rather than the importation of posters, and it applies without favoring out‑of‑state interests. The Court rejected the equal protection, contract liberty, and commerce clause challenges and affirmed the conviction.

Real world impact

The decision lets states regulate or ban outdoor tobacco advertising on billboards while allowing other forms of advertising like newspapers. Billboard companies, tobacco advertisers, and local communities are directly affected, and states retain authority to restrict local outdoor advertising to reduce public exposure, especially to youth.