Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Tennessee Auctioneers Make a Bid for Free Speech

by October 18, 2024
October 18, 2024
Tennessee Auctioneers Make a Bid for Free Speech

Thomas A. Berry and Alexander Khoury

Since the creation of the market square, there have been boisterous, loquacious individuals who have solicited bids for unique items. Merchants have long relied on them to create interest in their products and help sell their wares. Today, Will McLemore practices that time-honored profession with a novel twist. McLemore (though his company McLemore Auction Company) hosts his auctions online. 

In fact, McLemore founded one of the first online auction houses in Tennessee. Until recently, McLemore ran his auctions without needing a state-issued license. But in 2019, that changed.

Tennessee law now requires that auctioneers acquire a license before hosting online auctions. The law defines “auction” mostly by reference to speech. But the law also defines an “auction” as requiring a commercial transaction.

McLemore and a group of other auctioneers brought a lawsuit in federal court challenging the law under the First Amendment. A key question in the case is whether Tennessee’s regulation of a communicative, commercial activity imposes a burden on speech or instead only on conduct. A federal district court answered “conduct” and upheld the law under the most lenient form of judicial scrutiny, rational basis review.

The auctioneers have now appealed to the Sixth Circuit, and Cato has filed an amicus brief supporting them. In our brief, we highlight two points. First, pure speech is protected by the First Amendment, even when that speech advertises a product for sale. In 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (2023), the Supreme Court set out a framework for determining what constitutes “pure speech.” Under that test, auctioneering is pure speech protected by the First Amendment and entitled to heightened scrutiny. As such, the district court was wrong to review Tennessee’s licensure law under rational basis review.

Second, protecting sellers’ speech rights does not threaten the state’s ability to regulate economic conduct. The number of pure speech activities is ever-growing. But that has not caused courts to mistakenly invalidate legitimate regulations of conduct. Instead, courts are doing the hard work of discerning which laws target protected speech and which laws target regulable conduct. And courts are likewise doing the hard work of determining when regulations of pure speech might nonetheless be justifiable under heightened scrutiny. 

This work is crucial to protect the First Amendment rights of millions of American artists, essayists, writers, bloggers, and other creative commercial actors. Courts that engage in this work have followed in the Supreme Court’s footsteps by protecting sellers’ speech rights. The court of appeals should not hesitate to do the same.

The Sixth Circuit should reverse the district court and hold that auctioneers have a First Amendment right to speak for a living.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Disney Stock Options Strategy: A Detailed Guide to Boost Your Earnings
next post
The Pros and Cons of a Universal Basic Income

You may also like

Congress Can’t Delegate Away Its Power to Define...

April 29, 2024

Changing the Rules in the Face of Increasing...

July 25, 2023

Biden Hikes Corporate Tax Expenditures 92%

April 1, 2024

Powell v. SEC: Judges Should Strike Down the...

July 10, 2024

Land-Use Regulations Make Housing Less Affordable

March 18, 2025

High Real Estate Commissions Raise Questions About the...

November 21, 2023

Why School Choice?

January 28, 2025

Libertarian Consistency

September 3, 2024

Friday Feature: Challenger School

May 26, 2023

Colombia Faces Its Hour of Danger under Petro

April 19, 2024

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Claim Trump nixed top Musk ally from NASA post over Dem donations belied by ex-Dems on team

      June 6, 2025
    • House Budget chairman explains why there’s no ‘pork’ in Trump tax bill after Elon Musk attacks

      June 6, 2025
    • Silver’s Surge is No Fluke—Here’s the Strange Ratio Driving It

      June 6, 2025
    • Friday Feature: Incubate Debate

      June 6, 2025
    • Risch urges ‘top to bottom’ USAID spending review after waste, fraud exposed

      June 6, 2025
    • Universities in Libertarian Land

      June 6, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,149)
    • Investing (2,013)
    • Politics (15,547)
    • Stocks (3,131)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved