The United States Supreme Court unanimously decided today (3/29/2017) that the New York law that prevents merchants from charging a surcharge on credit card transactions (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law Ann. §518) is a state regulation on a business’ free speech.
Writing for the Court, Justice Roberts wrote: “In regulating the communication of prices rather than prices themselves,§518 regulates speech.”
While the justices were unanimous on that issue, they issued three concurring opinions.
The Court left unresolved the question of whether the New York law actually violates the First Amendment. The Supreme Court remanded the case back to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, for that court to decide whether §518 actually violates the First Amendment.
Read the full text of the decision