ELR Citation: 56 ELR 20068
No(s). 25-1012 (4th Cir. May 15, 2026)

The Fourth Circuit reversed in part a district court ruling in a lawsuit concerning a Maryland law that regulates the speech of renewable energy suppliers. Energy companies sought to preliminarily enjoin the law on First Amendment grounds. The district court denied the motion, determining that the law's speech restriction regulated commercial speech, and applied intermediate—not strict—scrutiny, and that the companies were not likely to succeed on the merits under that standard. It further concluded the law's compelled-disclosure provisions were also properly analyzed under intermediate scrutiny and were likely to survive under that standard. The companies appealed, arguing the district court erred as to both the speech restriction and the compelled disclosure provisions. The appellate court found the companies were likely to prevail in showing the speech restriction failed even under intermediate scrutiny. It reversed in part the district court's judgment and remanded with instructions to preliminarily enjoin the speech restriction provision and to review constitutionality of the compelled disclosure provisions.