FREE SPEECH VS. BAD TASTE

In a contentious 5-4 decision that pitted free speech against the rights of victims, the Supreme Court ruled that ambulance-chasing lawyers cannot contact accident victims or their families within 30 days of an injury. The Justices reinstated a Florida law that barred the solicitations, as Justice Sandra Day O'Connor put it, to "forestall the outrage and irritation" of victims. The ruling reverses a 1977 Supreme Court decision that lawyers have a free-speech right to advertise their services. In dissenting from today's ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy called the decision "censorship pure and simple," and a "serious departure" from existing law on commercial speech. TIME's Adam Cohen says the ruling cuts against the trend of High Court rulings deregulating advertising. Also significant, Cohen reports that new Justice Stephen Breyer sided with the majority. "It suggests that, contrary to the popular view, he's not a reliable liberal vote on issues like this."