WASHINGTON - Open Markets Institute filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in support of the petitioner in Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association v. Byrd. The question before the Court is “Whether the 21st Amendment empowers states, consistent with the dormant commerce clause, to regulate liquor sales by granting retail or wholesale licenses only to individuals or entities that have resided in-state for a specified time.”

The brief states, “Government—federal, state, and local—constructs and structures markets. All markets therefore reflect the political and moral concerns of the sovereign of the state, which in this case is the people of the United States expressing their wishes through an amendment to the Constitution.” The Twenty-first Amendment “grants expansive regulatory authority over alcohol to the states, including the authority to prohibit the production and sale of alcohol entirely.” Thus, “the Supreme Court should follow the plain meaning of the Twenty-first Amendment and restore the states’ full regulatory authority, under the Constitution, over alcohol production and distribution.”

Read the full brief below or download here.