Lower Court Holding
Decision of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
The central question in this case is how the "dormant" Commerce Clause and the Twenty-First Amendment interact to limit the ways in which a State can control alcohol sales and distribution. Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power "[t]o regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. " The Supreme Court has long held that "this affirmative grant of authority to Congress also encompasses an implicit or `dormant’ limitation on the authority of the States to enact legislation affecting interstate commerce." Healy v. The Beer…