Bigelow v. Virginia - Impact

Bigelow was an important link in the chain of decisions that broadened the constitutional protection afforded commercial speech. The following year, the Court formalized that protection in Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976). The concepts addressed in Bigelow were extended further by Carey v. Population Services International (1997), in which the Court struck down a New York law prohibiting the advertising and sale of contraceptives to minors. As a result of these and other subsequent decisions, commercial speech now occupies a special niche as a "quasi-protected" form of expression.