Something I've Not Done Before: ASK FOR YOUR HELP
Help Convince the Supreme Court To Take Up A Critical Wine Shipping Case
This is something I’ve never done with this FERMENTATION Newsletter: Ask for your help.
I am looking for wine consumers to sign on to an Amicus brief that will be filed with the United States Supreme Court that asks them to grant certiorari in a wine shipping case. This amicus brief on behalf of wine consumers will provide the justices on the Court with the perspective of the wine consumer and how discriminatory bans on wine shipments from out-of-state retailers harm consumers.
Some Background:
B-21 Wines, a retailer in Florida, sued the state of North Carolina arguing that the states ban on its residents receiving wine shipments from out-of-state wine retailers, while allowing North Carolina residents to receive wine shipments from in-state wine retailers, violates the dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution as explained in the Granholm v Heald (2005) Supreme Court case and the Tennessee Wine v Thomas (2019) Supreme Court case.
On June 1 of this year, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a split decision, ruled for the state of North Carolina. The majority opinion argued that “North Carolina’s interest in preserving its three-tier system is itself a legitimate nonprotectionist ground that constitutes a sufficient justification” for the retailer shipping ban.
B-21 has appealed this decision to the Supreme Court and now asks them to grant certiorari. The case is B-21 Wines v Bauer.
You can CLICK HERE to see the petition asking the Supreme Court to take the case.
The amicus brief on behalf of American wine consumers I’m asking my readers to consider joining would provide the Court with an entirely different perspective. Today there are literally more than a million wines in the American marketplace. Additionally, there is more information available to consumers promoting and examining wines than ever before. We add to this that American consumers have become accustomed to accessing products via internet sales and common carrier shipping. However, because most states ban shipments to consumers from out-of-state retailers, only a tiny number of the wines in the American marketplace are actually accessible to consumers in most states. Overturning the discriminatory, protectionist, and unconstitutional bans on retailer shipping such as the one in North Carolina would substantially help American wine consumers.
The brief will be written by Attorney Greg Troutman, who has experience with Supreme Court briefing as well as with this issue. I will be consulting on the drafting.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR 20 TO 30 WINE CONSUMERS TO SIGN ON TO THIS AMICUS BRIEF. YOUR NAMES WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE BRIEF. THERE IS NO COST TO THE CONSUMERS THAT SIGN ON. THE FIRST 30 WHO AGREE TO BE PART OF THE BRIEF WILL BE NAMED IN IT. IT MATTERS NOT IF YOU WORK IN THE WINE INDUSTRY. IT MATTERS THAT YOU ARE A WINE CONSUMER.
If you are willing to help and be part of this amicus brief on behalf of American wine consumers you:
Need only send an email to me at tom@warkcommunications.com
Include an affirmation that you want to be a part of the brief.
Provide me with your full name and address.
The Supreme Court takes only a small number of cases. However, it is critical that in asking them to take this case, the justices have a full understanding of what is at stake. Too often we discuss the impact of wine shipping bans on the shippers. But consumers are harmed as much or more. This brief will make that case.
Thank you in advance for helping.