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Friday, October 03, 2008

Law - Judge orders Michigan to Allow Wine Shipping by Out-of-State Retailers [Updated]

Dan & Krista Stockman, authors of Uncorked - A column for those who want to love wine, but don't know how, that appears weekends in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, wrote this morning:

Marcia, MichWine.com is reporting on a federal wine-shipping case there, this one involving retailers. As you may have noticed, all the fuss, legislation and decisions since Granholm have involved only wineries shipping their own products, not retailers.

This case would not directly affect Indiana wine lovers, because Indiana does not allow even in-state retailers to ship to consumers using third-party shippers (the Michigan case was based on the Granholm principal that prohibiting out-of-state retailers from shipping while allowing in-state is unconstitutional), though Indiana does allow retailers to deliver purchases themselves. But I do believe you will be seeing more of these cases, and it presents yet another crack in the door.

We'll be writing about the decision at some point soon, but thought you would want to know about it.

Here is the story from MichWine. It begins:
Federal Judge Denise Page Hood has ordered the state of Michigan to allow wine retailers nationwide to ship directly to state residents.

The ruling, dated September 30, comes from a U.S. District Court case in Detroit that asserts Michigan beverage laws are unconstitutional because they let in-state wine retailers ship to state residents, but don't accord the same right to retailers in other states.

In granting the Plaintiffs' motion for Summary Judgment, Judge Hood ruled that "State regulations such as this are not authorized by the Twenty First Amendment if the regulations create an extra burden on out-of-state wine retailers."

Thanks also to MichWine for posting Judge Hood's opinion.

The Specialty Wine Retailers Association has issued a release dated Oct. 3, headed "Consumers Win Access to Wine with Federal Court Ruling--Ban On Out-of-State Retailer Shipping into Michigan Ruled Unconstitutional." It begins:

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct 03, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Specialty Wine Retailers Association (SWRA) applauded a Federal District Court ruling that for the second time this year ruled that it is a violation of the U.S. Constitution for a state to prohibit their consumers from having wine shipped to them from out of state retailers when the state permits shipments from in-state retailers. The latest judgment against protectionist state wine laws came in a Michigan Court on September 30 in the case of Siesta Village Market v. Granholm. It followed on the heels of a decision in a Texas Federal Court earlier this year that struck down the same type of protectionist legislation in Texas.
[Updated 10/7/08] Here is a story in the AP by David Eggert on the Michigan ruling.]

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 3, 2008 01:59 PM
Posted to General Law Related