FREE TRADE IN WINE?
The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on whether states can ban shipments of wine from out-of-state wineries to individuals. From the San Francisco Chronicle report:
Virtually every day, David Jones of Lava Cap Winery gets telephone calls from out-of-staters who have visited his Placerville tasting room and want a few bottles of wine shipped to their homes.
Virtually every day, Jones has to turn down one or more customers from such states as New York and Florida, explaining that their 1930s-era liquor-control laws prohibit his wines from being delivered to their doorsteps.
In a year's time, the situation could be much better, or much worse, for wineries and consumers. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to weigh in on the legality of direct alcohol shipping, and laws in at least half-a-dozen states hang in the balance.
I wrote about state regulations, including anti-wine rules, that hinder Internet commerce here. The Institute for Justice, which brought one of the cases, has background here. (Steve and I are donors to IJ, which does great work.)