Texas Doubles Down In Fight To Stifle Craft Brewers’ Property Rights

Austin, Tx. – The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has filed a notice of appeal in Live Oak v. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. The case involves a Texas law that was passed in 2013, which required craft brewers to give beer distributors millions of dollars’ worth of distribution rights for free.  In August, an Austin trial court declared that the law violated the Texas Constitution. The Third Court of Appeals, in Austin, will now hear the government’s appeal of that ruling. Following news of the appeal, Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Matt Miller, who represents the brewers in the case, issued the following statement:

“The trial court correctly saw that this law was written by distributors to do one thing: enrich themselves at the expense of craft brewers.  That is unconstitutional, and we are confident the appellate court will agree.”