Monday, May 16, 2005
Major Libertarian Victory
The libertarian Institute for Justice won its legal battle before the Supreme Court today in its fight to allow wineries to ship their products across state lines. Even more exciting is that the 5 to 4 majority said that laws preventing such shipments violate the Constitution's Commerce Clause, which is exactly the interpretation of this clause that the Founders had in mind and one that libertarians have been defending since at least the New Deal. From the New York Times article by David Stout:
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New York's and Michigan's lawyers insisted then that the goals of preventing minors' access to alcohol and assuring that the states could collect taxes from out-of-state shippers justified their states' statutes. Solicitor General Caitlin J. Halligan of New York told the justices that the case "goes to the very core of the 21st Amendment."Congratulations to the staff of the Institute for Justice and the libertarian movement!
Justice Kennedy responded - tellingly, it would appear from today's ruling, that "it also goes to the very core of the Commerce Clause."
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