Action could lead other states to lift restrictions on similar cross-border sales
A Virginia law prohibiting the sale of wine by mail by out-of-state firms has been challenged in federal court. For the DM industry, this could be a bit of holiday cheer – if successful, the action could lead to the elimination of similar laws in 33 states.
The suit, filed last month by the Coalition for Free Trade in Licensed Beverages, alleges that Virginia’s statute violates the U.S. Constitution’s interstate commerce clause, discriminates against out-of-state businesses and “deprives adults of their right to purchase from the supplier of their choice.”
Eight states make it a felony for out-of-state wineries and other businesses to ship directly to consumers, but existing federal law requires only that alcoholic beverages sold by mail be delivered by private carrier.
Attorney Matthew Hale filed the suit on behalf of two Virginians who were unable to receive wine orders from vintners in California, Oregon and Texas.
In the complaint, Hale said that Virginia’s prohibition against anyone other than an in-state middleman from selling wine to consumers was “just plain wrong.”
It “discourages businesses, including small family-owned wineries located in 48 states, from reaching their consumers and participating in the national marketplace,” he added.
The case was filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, VA against the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and its commissioners.
Several years ago, the industry failed to win congressional support for legislation that would have repealed a Prohibition-era ban on wines and other liquors sent through the mail.
The Industry Watches
While it is not directly involved in the lawsuit, the Direct Marketing Association “will be following [the case] very closely,” said Jerry Cerasale, the DMA’s senior vice president for government affairs.
The DMA, Cerasale noted, “wants to keep remote marketing as open as possible.
“There might be a way,” he added, “that we can look at state laws to try and work something out, and keep direct marketers of wines and other liquors in compliance with those laws.”
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