Maine Magistrate Judge Recommends Upholding Alcohol Regulatory Controls

WASHINGTON, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret J. Kravchuk yesterday submitted a recommendation to Maine's U.S. District Court to uphold the state's farm winery statutes in a lawsuit filed by an Oregon winery seeking to legalize unaccountable Internet, mail and phone sales.

Kravchuk wrote that Maine's current law "simply does not impose any cognizable burden on interstate commerce that could possibly outweigh the putative local benefit of regulating minors' access to alcohol." She added, "But here the patently obvious circumstances are that the subject matter of the statutory scheme is wine, wine is an alcoholic beverage that is contraband when placed in certain minors' hands, and the State has concluded that mail order transactions cannot reliably be policed in order to protect certain minors from themselves."

The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, Inc. supports this recommended decision, as it exemplifies how a state can comply with last year's Granholm v. Heald Supreme Court ruling and continue to uphold the safeguards that prevent unaccountable alcohol sales.

"Governor Baldacci, Attorney General Rowe, and the Maine Liquor Licensing and Inspections Unit officials should be applauded for taking a stand to keep alcohol regulations in place in Maine, requiring that alcohol be sold through a face-to-face transaction," President and CEO Juanita D. Duggan said. "Magistrate Judge Kravchuk clearly understands the risks that Internet, phone and mail order alcohol sales pose to the health of our communities and that wine is alcohol.

"This decision ought to encourage other state officials to resist attempts by wineries who are demanding to opt out of the regulated system of alcohol safeguards through direct sales, and all those seeking to undermine a state's broad authority to regulate alcohol."

For a full copy of the recommended decision, please visit http://www.wswa.org/.

WSWA is a national trade association representing the wholesale tier of the wine and spirits industry and supports government policies that ensure sales and deliveries of alcohol are conducted only by those licensed by the state and in compliance with state and federal law.