Villanova Professor Mark Schrad has penned a very interesting article in the Washington Post discussing the forces behind the passage of Prohibition 100 years ago. Modern conventional wisdom wrongly attributes passage of the 18th Amendment in 1918 to a moralistic and religious fervor, however, the real reasons were much more nuanced and widespread than religion and the coalitions that brought…Read More
Interesting Article Noting the Additional Drivers of Prohibition Beyond Religion
7th Circuit Upholds Indiana Law Restricting Different Types of Wholesaler Licenses
The 7th Circuit rejected an Equal Protection claim by a beer wholesaler prohibited from seeking a liquor wholesaler permit. In an opinion by Circuit Judge Sykes the 7th Circuit upheld the district court decision to reject the plaintiff’s claim. The court first noted, “We are again asked to decide whether an aspect of Indiana’s alcohol regulation system violates the Equal…Read More
En Banc Panel Upholds California Tied House Law Against First Amendment Challenge
In a 10-1 decision, an en banc panel of the 9th Circuit overruled a previous three judge decision of the Ninth Circuit and reinstated a district court decision that upheld a California alcohol law regulating the payment between suppliers/wholesalers and retailers. In the opinion authored by Judge Paez the opinion noted that the Supreme Court’s Central Hudson…Read More
Key Provisions of the Justice Department’s Consent Order With ABInBev and SABMiller
Guest Column by Paul Pisano, NBWA The Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed a Final Judgment approving a settlement (Proposed Final Judgment or PFJ) between the DOJ, ABInBev (ABI) and SABMiller (SAB), which allowed the parties to consummate the largest beer industry merger in history. While the deal is already closed, the settlement agreement has…Read More
Idaho Court Rules Against Effort to Restrict 10 Barrel Brewpub in Idaho
A state district court ruled against the distributor challenge to the Idaho State Police’s interpretation of Idaho’s small brewer definition. The Court noted the confusing language in the sections of Idaho code but concluded, “Whatever the legislature intended, it did not preclude an international giant in the industry from buying out the local competition of brewers…Read More