Irish Liquor Lawyer Submits Amicus Brief in the 4th Circuit

I recently submitted an Amicus brief in the 4th Circuit, supporting a request for an en banc hearing of the 4th Circuit’s decision in B-21 Wines v. Bauer, which upheld North Carolina’s discriminatory wine retailer shipping law.

The amicus focused on the 4th Circuit opinion’s lack of fidelity to constitutional norms and Supreme Court precedent.

Specifically, the decision ignored the requirement that any case involving Commerce Clause discrimination, must go through a reasonable nondiscriminatory alternatives test to pass constitutional muster.

The 4th circuit ignored the importance of the reasonable nondiscriminatory alternatives in a way that violates constitutional norms.

The decision wrongly indicated that even with Granholm, Section 2 of the 21st Amendment could authorize discriminatory shipping laws. The decision narrowly interprets Granholm to be limited to its facts and circumstances.

Further, the decision reads as holding to the principle that Tennessee Wine did not employ a reasonable nondiscriminatory alternatives test, and that Tennessee Wine overturned Granholm on how to employ the proper Commerce Clause test. A far stretch by any imagination.