data mining companies and pharmaceutical manufactures contended that the law violated their first amendment rights and sought declaratory and injunctive relief against vermont officials. the united states district court for the district of vermont denied relief; the plaintiffs appealed to the united states court of appeals for the second circuit which reversed, holding that the law violated the first amendment by restricting the speech of the companies without adequate justification. vermont's attorney general appealed to the supreme court, which granted certiorari to resolve the contradiction of a ruling of the united states court of appeals for the first circuit, which had upheld similar laws in new hampshire and maine, concluding that the laws regulated economic conduct, not commercial speech.