Student newspapers in Virginia can no longer print advertisements for alcoholic beverages, following a Friday district court ruling.

According to the ruling, campus publications are not exempt from a Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) rule prohibiting them from printing any ad referencing beer, wine or mixed beverages.  The only exception to the ban is for advertisements "in reference to a dining establishment."  The rule also bans specific mentions of drink specials or happy hours.

The majority opinion stated that “though the correlation between advertising and demand alone is insufficient to justify advertising bans in every situation ... here it is strengthened because 'college student publications' primarily target college students and play an inimitable role on campus.”

The case began in 2006, when the Collegiate Times at Virginia Tech University and the Cavalier Daily at the University of Virginia sued to overturn the ruling, arguing that it violated the First Amendment.  The two papers also claimed that the majority of their readership was of legal drinking age.

After the court initially ruled in favor of the publications, the ABC appealed the decision.
 
The dissenting opinion claimed “there is no evidence that these newspapers are 'targeted at students under twenty-one" and that “In free speech cases, it is dangerous and unwise to sustain broad regulations for narrow reasons.”

The publications have two weeks to petition for a hearing before the full court of appeals.

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