Supreme Court Blasts Economic Protectionism as it Strikes Down Durational Residency Requirements
Arlington, Va.—By a 7-2 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court today issued a broadside against state-based economic protectionism as it struck down a Tennessee law that had required anyone seeking a retail liquor license to first reside in the state for two years—and 10 years before they could renew it.
“To put it mildly, today’s opinion by Associate Justice Samuel Alito and the six justices of the Court who joined with him was an indictment against in-state economic protectionism,” said Anya Bidwell, an attorney with the Institute for Justice (IJ), which litigated the case on behalf of Doug and Mary Ketchum.
The Ketchums own Kimbrough Wines & Spirits, a mom-and-pop liquor shop in Memphis, Tennessee, which they purchased in 2016 after moving from Utah. Because they had moved from out of state, the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association—a special interest group that exists to protect its members from competition—threatened to sue the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission if it granted the Ketchums’ application or a separate application submitted by Total Wine around the same time. At that point, the Commissioner himself went to court and asked it to resolve, once and for all, whether Tennessee’s durational residency requirements were constitutional.
https://ij.org/press-release/supreme-court-blasts-economic-protectionism-as-it-strikes-down-durational-residency-requirements-for-business-licenses/
------------------------
I think the Institute for Justice is more of a Libertarian leaning organization, but I really like how they stick up for the little guy against corporate special interests and government cronyism.
= new reply since forum marked as read
