The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down protectionist state wine and liquor laws on the grounds that they illegally discriminated against out-of-state wineries and out-of-state alcohol retailers. Yet earlier this week, a federal appellate court upheld an Indiana law that forbids out-of-state retailers from shipping wine directly to Indiana consumers.

What's going on?

The case is Chicago Wine Company v. Braun. At issue is a state law forbidding retailers that are not based in Indiana from shipping wine directly to Indiana consumers, either via services like FedEx or UPS, or via the retailer's own fleet of vehicles.

The constitutional question at the heart of the case revolves around an important yet lesser-known legal doctrine called the "Dormant Commerce Clause." This doctrine holds that

See Full Page