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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Courts - 6th Circuit issues wine shipping opinion [Updated]

Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel reported yesterday:

A federal appeals court today deemed unconstitutional a state law designed to boost business for in-state wineries.

“We conclude Tennessee’s Grape and Wine Law is discriminatory on its face,” the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion stated.

The ruling renders wrong a decision made last by Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier in a case filed in Greeneville U.S. District Court by two wine lovers and an out-of-state winery, all of whom complained that the state’s regulatory scheme effectively blocked out-of-state wineries from selling directly to Tennessee consumers and instead favored in-state wineries.

In its opinion, the federal appeals court sided with the oenophiles and the Indiana winery.

The court noted there is no question Tennessee intended to foster the growth of the wine-making business in the state when it passed the Grape and Wine Law. Lawmakers spelled it out in the law, writing the legislation was necessary to boost the state’s economy and provide a market for “native grapes.”

The court stopped short in its opinion of striking down the law immediately and instead is sending it back to Collier with some marching orders, including allowing the state to propose a fix and in-state wineries to join in the litigation.

Jonathan Adler of the Volokh Conspiracy gives a more detailed analysis of the opinion, Jelovsek v. Bredesen.

Here is a long list of other ILB entries on wine shipping.

[Updated 1-/30/-8] "6th Circuit Finds Tennessee Wine Law Unconstitutional, Sends Back for Remedy" from the National Law Journal - access here.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 25, 2008 04:54 PM
Posted to Courts in general