In "44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island" (1996), Rhode Island passed a law that banned liquor advertising from places that did not sell liquor. The petitioners based their suit on their First Amendment right to free speech. In a unanimous decision the Court held that states cannot use the Twenty-first Amendment to abridge freedom of speech protections under the First Amendment. However, the Court acknowledged the state was empowered to regulate the sale of liquor under the Twenty-First Amendment.