Oenophiles rejoice!

One of the great perks of being situated in south-central Indiana is that I happen to be in wine country (as much as one can have in this particular climate). There are several wineries in the Bloomington area, and I have to believe that their presence brings Indiana Law a wealth of connoisseur law professors.

Ironically, Indiana is a harsh place to be an oenophile. The state is in the pockets of the large alcohol distributors, providing that we can't import wine from out of state, and, until recently, couldn't even have wine from Indiana wineries shipped to our homes (today, the restrictions on wine shipping are still extremely harsh). As a result of this environment, several lawsuits have been brought in an attempt to loosen the grip of these distributors. Fortunately, the biggest wine lovers I know are all law professors.

One such professor, Patrick Baude, was recently involved in a suit, and today the court ruled in his favor. I'd love to summarize the decision, but aside from its length*, I'd hate to screw up briefing a professor's case. If and when I have Professor Baude again, I'd hate for that to be hanging over my head.

"This litigation challenges the constitutionality of Indiana laws that allegedly restrict the ability of wineries, and out-of-state wineries in particular, to sell their product directly to Indiana residents, primarily by orders placed by telephone or over the Internet."

Preventing out-of-state wineries from shipping to Indiana residents violates the Commerce Clause. The defendants, the Indiana ATC and one of the wholesalers, say that the restrictions are there "for the children". Poppycock, says the court (not in those words, of course).

The gist of the decision:
"[T]he court finds the wholesale prohibition, Ind. Code § 7.1-3-26-7(a)(6), to be unconstitutional insofar as it bars wineries that possess wholesale privileges in states other than Indiana from seeking a Direct Wine Seller’s permit. The court also finds the requirement of an initial face-to-face transaction between a winery and customer prior to direct shipment, as described in Ind. Code §§ 7.1-3-26-6(4), 7.1-3-26-9(1)(A), to be unconstitutional. These two conditions constitute a form of economic protectionism and violate the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.

"The court does not find Indiana’s general prohibition of direct shipping, Ind. Code Ind. Code § 7.1-5-11-1.5, to be unconstitutional except with respect to the two specific conditions in the statutory provisions cited above. Nor does the court find the statute allowing an Indiana farm winery to sell its product onsite and at certain other locations, Ind. Code § 7.1-3-12-5, to be unconstitutional."

Not a complete knock-out win, but definitely a step in the right direction. So on this night, I propose a toast to Professor Baude and his success in this litigation. Congratulations!

*Please note, Professor, that I did actually read the whole case. I just didn't think my readers wanted the details.