Wine Lovers Rejoice

food fight

No more traveling to the Napa valley and carting back bottles of wine. The Supreme Court has ruled that state bans on importation of out-of-state wine violate the Constitution.

"States have broad power to regulate liquor," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. "This power, however, does not allow states to ban, or severely limit, the direct shipment of out-of-state wine while simultaneously authorizing direct shipment by in-state producers."

I haven't read the opinion but, from this quote from the opinion, I presume that a state could ban altogether the shipment of alcohol. If so, I suspect that that will be the recourse for the 20+ states that ban this practice.

Of interesting import for Court watchers, Scalia and Thomas split, with Scalia in the majority and Thomas in dissent. This alone makes this decision an odd one.