A motion for summary judgement was filed by the plaintiffs in the Cap’n Cork case. Recently Indiana filed its cross motion for summary judgement. The recent Wine Country 5th Circuit case as well as the Buy-Rite case from New York in the 2nd Circuit and the other Indiana case, Baude at the 7th Circuit all heavily influence the state’s brief. All those cases are discussed in other posts on this blog.
Updated: This case has been transferred to federal court in Indiana. It has been assigned to Judge McKinney.
A New Indiana Lawsuit Filed by Retailer Seeking Direct Shipping Rights
Just 24 hours after the United States Supreme Court stated they would not take an out-of-state winery’s unsuccessful challenge to one provision of the Indiana alcohol code, the same unsuccessful plaintiff’s attorney has filed a new lawsuit against Indiana this time on behalf of an Indiana retailer.
A new case has been filed in the Southern District of Indiana, Lebamoff Enterprises Inc. v. Thomas Snow, Chairman of the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission(PDF). Lebamoff Enterprises dba Cap N’ Cork has filed a challenge under Indiana law, the Equal Protection Clause, the Dormant Commerce Clause and federal preemption of state regulation of common carriers. The Cap N’ Cork believes it is unfair that wineries are able to do some sales via common carriers whereas retailers are not. The ATC has cited Cap N’ Cork for violations. This will likely be an interesting case to see if wineries and retailers are in fact different as apparently the plaintiff here claims there is no difference between winery sales and retail sales.
Posted February 15, 2010 by admin under 21st Amendment, Alcohol Review, Dormant Commerce Clause
