Virginia Tech's Collegiate Times and the University of Virginia's Cavalier Daily have won their joint lawsuit against Virginia's ban on alcohol advertising in campus newspapers.
 
In an opinion issued Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Hannah Lauck of the Eastern District of Virginia struck down two sections of state law: one that prohibited campus papers from carrying alcohol ads, and another that limited what words can be used in alcohol ads.

Kelly Wolff, general manager of the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech, lauded the decision, calling it "recognition of what the editors of the Collegiate Times have said for a long time, and that was that it was a constitutional infringment on our free speech rights."
 
The ACLU, which supported the newspapers on First Amendment grounds, said in a statement from Virginia director Kent Willis: "As the court points out, the ACLU has no interest in promoting underage drinking. But we do have a strong interest in protecting the right of free speech. When the government curbs speech, it has to show that it serves an important societal purpose. There was simply no evidence whatsoever that limiting advertising in this way reduced alcohol consumption by students."

The two campus papers estimated that the ad ban was costing them an annual $30,000 each in alcohol advertising. Wolff said no alcohol ads are waiting in the wings, but that "once the injunction is actually issued, we'll be able to not turn people down when they come to us."
 
Lauck gave each side five days to file motions if they wished to contest her ruling.