NY Wine
Swedenburg v. Kelly
IJ, Small Wineries and Wine Lovers Team Up to Tackle New York's
Prohibition On Interstate Wine Sales
IJ Client Juanita Swedenburg

Juanita Swedenburg, Virginia vintner and member of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, successfully waged the nation's leading legal
battle to reestablish the American ideals of unfettered interstate
commerce, especially on the Internet.

With the help of the Institute for Justice, Swedenburg challenged
discriminatory laws that existed only to protect the monopoly power of
large, politically powerful liquor wholesalers who controlled the
distribution of alcohol into most states-and who had no incentive to
distribute the products of boutique vintners.

So Swedenburg, California vintner David Lucas and wine consumers, all
represented by the Institute for Justice, filed a federal lawsuit in
February 2000 challenging the ban on direct interstate wine shipments
in New York, the country's second largest wine market. The case
raised issues of Internet commerce, free trade among the states, and
regulations that hamper small businesses and the consumers they seek to
serve.

On May 16, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the prohibitory
state wine laws, thus helping to restore vital constitutional
protections for individuals who seek to engage in commerce.

This is the second U.S. Supreme Court case won by the Institute for
Justice and the first pertaining to economic liberty.