Wine drinkers rejoice! The U.S. Supreme Court this morning ruled that state governments cannot prohibit people from purchasing wine from out-of-state wineries, determining that states' claims of possible lost taxes or shipments to minors don't justify such prohibitions.
The justices, voting 5-4, said the traditional state authority over alcohol sales must yield to the constitutional requirements that states not engage in protectionism. "States have broad power to regulate liquor," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. "This power, however, does not allow states to ban, or severely limit, the direct shipment of out-of-state wine while simultaneously authorizing direct shipment by in-state producers. If a state chooses to allow direct shipments of wine, it must do so on evenhanded terms."
The ruling is a great victory for smaller vintners and Internet commerce and a blow to the liquor distributors who'd been enjoying enjoy fat markups. About half of the states now have protectionists laws prohibiting interstate sales.
There is a loophole, however. Because the court was only concerned about discriminatory state laws favoring in-state wineries, a state could require that all alcohol sales take place face-to-face, and levy the same strict rule on its own wineries as well.
We shall see...
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