et al. Posadas de Puerto Rico v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico

In 1975 a group of investors known as Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates began operation of the Condado Holiday Inn and Sands Casino in Puerto Rico. In 1978 Posadas was twice fined by the Tourism Company of Puerto Rico for violating the act's prohibition against advertising casino facilities within Puerto Rico. Posadas argued that the fines were unwarranted in that its casino had undertaken no mass market advertising, but was told by the company in 1979 that the prohibition against advertising contained in the act "includes the use of the `casino' in matchbooks, lighters, envelopes, inter-office and/or external correspondence, invoices, napkins, brochures, menus, elevators, glasses, plates, lobbies, banners, flyers, paper holders, pencils, telephone books, directories, bulletin boards or in any hotel dependency or object which may be accessible to the public in Puerto Rico." Posadas then sought a declaration from the Superior Court of Puerto Rico that the act violated, both on its face and as interpreted by the company, constitutional protection of commercial speech.