Wine & Direct Shipping
The US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the US District Court for the Southern District of New York have issued two important decisions striking down restrictive state laws on direct shipment of wine in Florida and New York.
Read more on these decisions in articles from Law.com, Wine Spectator, CNET, the Tallahassee Democrat, and Newsday.
Congress Approves Limited Direct Wine Shipments Oct. 7, 2002
The House and Senate approved H.R. 2215, the Department of Justice Appropriations bills, including a provision which allows direct shipments of wine, purchased while visiting a winery, to be shipped to another state. This is a small step in efforts to overturn restrictive policies on direct shipping of wine. Read more from WineBusiness.com, the Wine Institute and WineSpectator.com.
Links to Public Comments for FTC Workshop Oct. 7, 2002
Click here to view the remarks for the speakers scheduled for tomorrow's FTC session on Internet wine sales.
FTC Workshop To Include Session on Internet Wine Sales October 8 Oct. 1, 2002
The Federal Trade Commission has scheduled a public workshop on "Anticompetitive Efforts to Restrict Competition on the Internet" for October 8-10. The workshop is free to the public. Click here for more information.
Of interest to wineries and those following the direct shipping issue, will be the session on wine sales scheduled for 2:00-3:45 on October 8, in Room 432 at FTC Headquarters, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.
Declan McCullagh of CNET wrote an interesting article on the workshop and the issue of Internet sales on September 30, 2002.
Texas Appeals District Court Ruling on Direct Shipping Sept. 20, 2002
The State of Texas has filed an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in attempt to overturn July's ruling from the Southern District of Texas that declared the state's ban on direct shipping unconstitutional. More on this important case will be available soon.
Texas Court Says State's Ban on Interstate Wine Shipping Unconstitutional Aug. 22, 2002
On July 17, 2002, Judge Melinda Harmon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued one of the most important rulings to date on the issue of direct shipping of wine to consumers. Judge Harmon's ruling in Dickerson v. Bailey, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13653, CV-99-1247 (S.D. Tex. July 17, 2002), declared that Texas' ban on interstate wine shipping was unconstitutional and violated the Commerce Clause.
The decision is the third this year by a federal court to strike down a ban on direct shipping to consumers. In March, Virginia's direct shipping ban was declared unconstitutional by the Eastern District of Virginia. One week later, the Western District of North Carolina struck down North Carolina's shipping ban. Both rulings are under appeal. Litigation is also pending in Florida, Michigan and New York. The issue is expected to be eventually resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court.
For more information, read the August 21, 2002 article "Merlot by mail: ordering wine online gets easier" by Katy McLaughlin, The Wall Street Journal (published by SFGate.com).
Dickerson v. Bailey, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13653, CV-99-1247 (S.D. Tex. July 17, 2002). ON APPEAL.
Beskind et al., v. Easley, 197 F. Supp. 2d 464, 3:00CV258-MU (W.D.N.C. Apr. 5, 2002).
Bolick, et al., v. Roberts, 199 F. Supp. 2d 397, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6376, 99CV755 (E.D. Va. Mar. 29, 2002).
Bainbridge v. Bush, 148 F. Supp. 2d 1306, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10317, 8:99-CV-2681-T-27TBM (M.D. Fl. July 17, 2001). Bainbridge v. Turner, 01-14688 (11th Cir. Nov. 7, 2002).
Bolick, et al., v. Roberts, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11118, 99CV755 (E.D.Va. July 27, 2001).
Bridenbaugh v. Freeman-Wilson, 227 F.3d 848, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 22991 (7th Cir. Sept. 13, 2000), cert. denied 532 U.S. 1002 (Apr. 23, 2001).
Swedenberg, et al., v. Kelly, et al., 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12758 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 5, 2000). Swedenberg, et. al. v. Kelly, et al., 00-CV-0778 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 7, 2002).
Direct Shipping Resources
The Wine Institute and Free The Grapes have the most comprehensive websites for information on the issues related to direct shipping. The Coalition For Free Trade also has a litigation status page, with information on direct shipping cases.
See Who ships where.