New York Wine

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

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.