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31-05-2005 03:57 PM

Transporting Alcohol Across State Lines

I live in Pennsylvania and booze is a lot cheaper in Delaware. To
start off the summer season, the troopers were pulling people over on
I-95 once they crossed over into Pennsylvania. Does anyone know why
such laws continue to exist and whether or not they have ever been
challenged as unconstitutional?

Gunther Anderson

31-05-2005 06:48 PM

wrote:

> I live in Pennsylvania and booze is a lot cheaper in Delaware. To
> start off the summer season, the troopers were pulling people over on
> I-95 once they crossed over into Pennsylvania. Does anyone know why
> such laws continue to exist and whether or not they have ever been
> challenged as unconstitutional?

Taxation, and they're not unconstitutional. Laws about evading taxes by
purchasing things in other jurisdictions (it's all about where it gets
used, actually) are well established. You'd need to find a truly novel
interpretation to get any kind of meaningful challenge.

The way to get around it, of course, it to not do it simply. Don't just
drive over the line, pick up ten cases of beer, and drive back. They're
waiting right over the line, and they've been looking for people just
like you. Drive further over the border (taking care not to go too far
and drive into the Atlantic - Delaware isn't big...), buy your ten
cases, stow them so they're not obvious (in a trunk or under a cargo
cover), and drive somewhere else in-state before driving back out. It
kills a little time, but saves you the hassle and the criminal record.

But it's all about money. Even the enforcement is more about the money
they get from the citation than it is about stopping criminal activity.
Just ask your local jurisdiction about how much of their budget comes
from traffic citations, and how badly their budget would suffer if
suddenly everybody obeyed the law...

Gunther Anderson

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31-05-2005 08:08 PM

If I buy a cd player in Delaware, am I breaking the law too?

Gunther Anderson

02-06-2005 02:54 AM

wrote:

> If I buy a cd player in Delaware, am I breaking the law too?

Maybe. Ask your state. I know of at least one state that has you
declare the total of all items you bought mail-order that you did not
pay taxes on, so you can pay taxes for them on your yearly return. So
far, they don't track you directly, but it's probably only a matter of
time...

Gunther

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