A US federal judge in Michigan has ruled that a state ban on direct-to-consumer wine shipping from out-of-state is unconstitutional, allowing residents to buy wine from stores countrywide and have it shipped to their homes.
Lawyer Robert Epstein for Cap n' Cork, an Indiana chain of wine stores and plaintiffs in the case, hopes it is a bellwether for the shipping options of wine lovers across the country, reported New York's Wine Spectator.
'What has been accomplished is a first step in opening up shipping by retailers around the country to out-of-state clients,' he said.
Lebamoff Enterprises et al v. Snyder et al is one of three similar cases undertaken by the Indianapolis-based law firm Epstein, Cohen, Seif & Porter. The other two were filed in Illinois and Missouri. In each the plaintiffs argue that state bans on out-of-state retailer direct shipping violate the US constitution's dormant Commerce Clause and Privileges and Immunities Clause.
The Lebamoff complaint was filed in the federal district court for eastern Michigan in January 2017, just 11 days after the state's legislature passed a bill allowing in-state retailers to deliver wine, beer and spirits to Michigan residents via common carriers like FedEx and UPS - but blocking out-of-state merchants from doing the same.
'For Michigan consumers it's a big win because now they have access to nearly every wine that is sold in the United States,' said executive director Tom Wark of the National Association of Wine Retailers, which has supported the plaintiffs' case.
If the Michigan legislature now acts to put a system in place for issuing permits to out-of-state retailers and collecting taxes on shipments, 'consumers will win, out-of-state retailers will win and the state will win too because they'll start getting a lot of tax revenue.'
The Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association joined the case in support of the existing law blocking out-of-state retailer shipping.
'We are disappointed in the ruling,' MB&WWA president Spencer Nevins told Wine Spectator, 'which would allow unregulated and untracked out-of-state retailers to ship alcohol direct to consumers, sapping the state of much-needed tax revenue and undermining small businesses that choose to call Michigan home, including retailers, wineries, breweries and distributors.'
Lawyer Robert Epstein for Cap n' Cork, an Indiana chain of wine stores and plaintiffs in the case, hopes it is a bellwether for the shipping options of wine lovers across the country, reported New York's Wine Spectator.
'What has been accomplished is a first step in opening up shipping by retailers around the country to out-of-state clients,' he said.
Lebamoff Enterprises et al v. Snyder et al is one of three similar cases undertaken by the Indianapolis-based law firm Epstein, Cohen, Seif & Porter. The other two were filed in Illinois and Missouri. In each the plaintiffs argue that state bans on out-of-state retailer direct shipping violate the US constitution's dormant Commerce Clause and Privileges and Immunities Clause.
The Lebamoff complaint was filed in the federal district court for eastern Michigan in January 2017, just 11 days after the state's legislature passed a bill allowing in-state retailers to deliver wine, beer and spirits to Michigan residents via common carriers like FedEx and UPS - but blocking out-of-state merchants from doing the same.
'For Michigan consumers it's a big win because now they have access to nearly every wine that is sold in the United States,' said executive director Tom Wark of the National Association of Wine Retailers, which has supported the plaintiffs' case.
If the Michigan legislature now acts to put a system in place for issuing permits to out-of-state retailers and collecting taxes on shipments, 'consumers will win, out-of-state retailers will win and the state will win too because they'll start getting a lot of tax revenue.'
The Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association joined the case in support of the existing law blocking out-of-state retailer shipping.
'We are disappointed in the ruling,' MB&WWA president Spencer Nevins told Wine Spectator, 'which would allow unregulated and untracked out-of-state retailers to ship alcohol direct to consumers, sapping the state of much-needed tax revenue and undermining small businesses that choose to call Michigan home, including retailers, wineries, breweries and distributors.'