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Sunday, April 08, 2007

Ind. Law - Still more on: Liquor wholesalers launch attack on IU Law professor

Updating these ILB entries from April 4th and April 7th, Mike Leonard of the Bloomington Herald Times writes in a column today:

If the recent inquiry into the work activities of Indiana University law professor Alex Tanford didn’t carry with it a question about the man’s character and professionalism, it might be amusing.

Tanford has been the lead attorney or a consultant on several court challenges to laws that regulate wine distribution and shipping. The first of these cases goes back nearly a decade now, but over time, Tanford and his allies have prevailed more often than not.

And that has big business and its allies in a dither. And blatantly out to exact a measure of revenge.

The powerful Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Indiana pressed their lackeys in the Legislature to question whether Tanford’s legal work has detracted from his responsibilities and duties as a law professor. Lead lackey David Long, R-Fort Wayne, asked IU to look into Tanford’s activities and determine whether the law professor has violated university policies regarding the use of his time and university resources.

“It’s the take-no-prisoners, out with the knives attitude,” observes Russ Bridenbaugh, a Bloomington wine writer and advocate. “If they can’t win in court, then they go after their opponents with smears and harassment.”

More from the column:
James Purucker, the lobbyist for the wine and spirits wholesalers, wants the Legislature to set aside $1 million from IU’s state appropriations to offset the $800,000 Tanford says he is due for eight years of legal work to overturn what he has argued are Indiana laws and practices that violate the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“That’s the way constitutional law works,” said Bridenbaugh. “You’re almost always suing a governmental entity on a constitutional question. If you win, the losing side has to pay the winner’s legitimate legal fees. The wholesalers and their friends in the Legislature are trying to say that Alex is wasting taxpayers’ money.

“If you want to point a finger at someone wasting taxpayers’ money, let’s look at the crummy legislation that was written by the wholesale wine and spirits lobby and carried by the Legislature.

“Ultimately, though, you have to look at the governor and the state attorney general and ask, why are you mounting this defense of an indefensible and unconstitutional law? Who is wasting taxpayers’ money — the attorney who is challenging an unconstitutional law or the state that won’t give up?”

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 8, 2007 06:19 PM
Posted to Indiana Law