Breaking News: SCOTUS Decides Not to Hear Wine Retailers Case
by Lindsey A. Zahn on March 7, 2011
BREAKING NEWS! Today, the Supreme Court decided not to examine the case brought by a group of wine retailers asking to review the case of Wine Country Gift Baskets v. Steen decided by the Fifth Circuit. The justices announced today that they will not give further consideration to whether the Texas law is too restrictive with respect to direct shipment. Wine retailer petitioners believe the Texas law, which allows in-state retailers to directly ship wine to consumers but prohibits direct shipment by out-of-state retailers, discriminated against out-of-state retailers and subsequently violated the Commerce Clause. The Specialty Wine Retailers that petitioned to SCOTUS argued that the Fifth Circuit incorrectly interpreted the 2005 SCOTUS case Granholm v. Heald, which held that a state may not discriminate against out-of-state wine producers with respect to its direct shipment laws. The Fifth Circuit, from which the wine retailers appealed, interpreted the Granholm decision to allow discrimination against interstate wine retailers.
Limited information is available at this time with respect to the recent decision of the justices. The justices did not explain why they refused to consider the appeal by the retailers. When more information is available, additional entries will be posted by On Reserve. (See Supreme Court Justices Beg Off From Hearing Texas Wine Case.)
If you have additional information on this matter, please contact me at lazahn@winelawonreserve.com.
About the author
Lindsey Zahn wrote 151 articles on this blog.
Lindsey is the founder and author of On Reserve: A Wine Law Blog. She is a recent law school graduate and has a passion for the hospitality industry that furnishes her interest in wine law. Currently, she works at an alcohol beverage and food law firm in Washington, D.C. Lindsey passed the July 2012 New York State Bar Exam and is currently awaiting admission to the New York Bar (pending results from her character and fitness exam).
Tagged as:
21st Amendment,
commerce clause,
direct shipment,
Granholm v. Heald,
Supreme Court
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