Federal judge rules that 156-year-old ban on at-home distilling is unconstitutional
Texas-based judge ruled that a ban from 1868 exceeds Congress's taxing power, violates a U.S. Constitution clause
Fox News cites CEI’s Devin Watkins and Dan Greenberg on Hobby Distillers Association v. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau et al:
Devin Watkins, a lawyer for the Texas-based hobby group at the libertarian think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Reuters that the ruling “respects the rights of our clients to live under a government of limited powers.”
The hobby group, which represented the plaintiffs, and four of its 1,300 members filed a lawsuit in December against the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and the Department of Justice, saying that the government’s regulatory reach could not extend to activities within a person’s home.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is a division of the Department of the Treasury that regulates and collects taxes on alcohol, while the Department of Justice can prosecute any felonies.
“This decision is a victory for personal freedoms and for federalism,” Competitive Enterprise Institute lawyer Dan Greenberg said. “We’re pleased to see that the court determined that the home distilling ban is unconstitutional – and that it blocked enforcement of the ban against our clients. More broadly, the court’s decision reminds us that, as Americans, we live under a government of limited powers.”
Pittman, however, said the ban was not a valid practice of Congress’ taxing power because it did not raise revenue and “did nothing more than statutorily ferment a crime.”
“While prohibiting the possession of an at-home still meant to distill beverage alcohol might be convenient to protect tax revenue on spirits, it is not a sufficiently clear corollary to the positive power of laying and collecting taxes,” the judge wrote.
The judge said the ban on at-home distilling could also not be covered under Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce. He said the ban is “not a ‘comprehensive’ scheme of regulation because there are many aspects of the alcohol industry that Congress has left untouched.”
“While the federal government has become more enthusiastic about inflating the scope of its powers over the last century, this case shows that there are limits to the government’s authority,” Watkins, the lawyer for the Texas-based hobby group at the libertarian think tank Competitive Enterprise Institut said in a statement.
“If the government appeals this decision to a higher court, we look forward to illuminating those limits.”
