A US District Court held that Michigan’s law banning out-of-state retailers from shipping wine into the state was unconstitutional. It held that the nondiscrimination principle which applied to suppliers in Granholm extended to retailers. Michigan sits in the 6th Federal Judicial Circuit, […]
In an unsurprising decision the Eastern District of Missouri ruled that a challenge to Missouri’s ban on out-of-state wine retailers shipping to customers within the state, failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted and dismissed the challenge. Sarasota Wine Market v. Parson, Case No. 4:17CV2792 HEA (Eastern District of Missouri, March […]
There is a great buzz going around about the U.S. Supreme Court’s Tennessee Wine case and whether this case will decide if Granholm extends to retailer, and hence deems laws banning wine retailer shipping as unconstitutional.
Even if the Supreme Court remains silent on the specific issue, many lower federal courts and even state courts may […]
Total Wine and More (Total) filed a lawsuit against Connecticut bringing a facial challenge to Connecticut’s pricing provisions. Total alleged that the pricing provisions created per se violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act Section 1 and thus were preempted by statute.
Total claims that the Connecticut laws eliminate the need for wholesalers to compete […]
The Supreme Court oral arguments have passed and the liquor community looks at the argument the same way a fan looks at a draw in a big soccer game. There is a big buildup to the game, we don’t know what the impact will be, we go to oral argument and go away not unhappy […]
Irish Liquor Lawyer is at the Supreme Court today to report live on the Tennessee Wine Supreme Court oral argument.
Here are my observations from oral argument. The Court was not entirely convinced that the 21st Amendment protects state laws from dormant commerce clause challenges especially when laws are protectionist. 2. Tennessee did not provide a […]
Handicapping what the Supreme Court will focus on in oral argument is very difficult. Especially since the oral argument only last for one hour. I listed 9 issues that may be the focus of the oral argument.
Some of the listed issues the Court will definitely focus on and others are more obscure and may or […]
As the liquor industry anticipates a groundbreaking decision in the Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association v. Blair (Tennessee Wine) case, the Supreme Court has the option to render a decision and yet at the same time defer making any groundbreaking legal precedent. To all us legal geeks out there, it is a disappointing option […]
Introduction
The Lebamoff case out of the 7th Circuit was a strongly written opinion by Chief Judge Diane Wood to influence the Supreme Court’s direction in the upcoming Tennessee Wine case.