A U.S. Supreme Court case that was touted as a significant retail business dispute with First Amendment ramifications seemed to fizzle fast Tuesday as justices questioned whether freedom of speech was involved at all.
The case Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman tests whether New York can dictate what merchants say to their customers about the different prices they charge for credit card and cash payments. Ten other states, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas, have similar laws that prohibit merchants from imposing surcharges to cover the “swipe fee” that pay credit-card companies, laws which in some cases have been interpreted to prevent merchants from using the word “surcharge.”
