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…
