Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc

In Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc, 507 U.S. 410 (1993), an ordinance prohibited commercial handbills from being distributed in newsracks while allowing newspapers to be sold. Thus, the Court assumed that the ordinance completely prohibited what it characterized as "core" commercial speech while allowing other speech. Discovery Network, 507 U.S. at 424. The Court concluded that, although the city asserted that an interest in aesthetics justified the ordinance, the ordinance did not limit the number of newsracks; it "limited (to zero) the number of newsracks distributing commercial publications." Id. at 429