Aug 30, 2007
State to resident wine lover: Yes, you may buy wine from an out-of-state winery, but you must first visit that winery. Wine Loving Resident to State: But, I just want the wine, I don’t want to visit them; plus, wouldn’t flying to Oregon add a bit of expense to the case of wine that I want. State to resident wine lover: That’s not my problem. Wine Loving Resident to State: We’ll see about that when we meet in Court. Court…
Aug 14, 2007
In Brown v. Board of Education the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools violated the 14th Amendment. Oliver Brown was An African-American parent of a young girl. This did not mean that only African American children were protected by the 14th Amendment In New York Times v. Sullivan the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public officials could not sue a publication over inaccurate information published by mistake. The New York Times was a newspaper. That did not…
Aug 9, 2007
The Illinois State Capital is among the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. It is literally awe inspiring. Perfectly proportioned, topped with a great gilded dome, filled with magnificent statues of great men and women, festooned with murals that speak to the travails and mighty triumphs of pioneers and leaders. It is the kind of place that Laine Hanson, the first American Vice President in the movie "The Contenderr", would identify as a "Chapel of Democracy". What a shame that…
Jul 20, 2007
For anyone who has not been following the attempt in Illinois to re-write the wine distribution laws in that state so that distributors are granted even more power than the state already grants them, a new development has occurred. A new association of wineries calling themselves The Illinois Winemakers Alliance has formed in part to oppose Illinois House Bill 429. HB 429 does a variety of things: 1. Allows out-of-state wineries to ship to Illinoisans2. Allows in-state wineries to ship…
Jul 6, 2007
Over at the Dover Canyon Winery Blog, Mary Baker points to something that she calls "Tennessee Hypocrisy". Besides the catchy phrase, it’s a pretty accurate description of a new law the state has put into effect that will have everyone who buys beer carded, but not if they buy wine. It would be a happy day if this were the first bit of legal and ideological hypocrisy that was produced by those who are in charge of the sale and…