3 Washington Breweries Sue Oregon over Distribution Laws

Discussion in 'Northwest' started by unlikelyspiderperson, Aug 5, 2022.

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  1. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
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    https://www.kgw.com/article/money/b...laws/283-98d4ee65-d657-48fc-a8e5-952377365f78

    Garden Path, Mirage, and Fortside breweries are the plaintiffs. OLCC is the defendant it appears. What say you cascadians?
     
    #1 unlikelyspiderperson, Aug 5, 2022
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  2. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
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    #2 distantmantra, Aug 5, 2022
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  3. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
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    Yeah, I support their objectives for sure. I'm mostly curious what the result in the broader industry would be if the breweries succeeded.
     
    #3 unlikelyspiderperson, Aug 5, 2022
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  4. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
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    Totally in support. I’d love it if beer had parity with wine regarding direct shipping and club memberships, assuming the brewery wanted to offer the service.

    I think shipping costs will prevent the overall volume from being too big, so probably a minimal impact on the broader industry.
     
    #4 sharpski, Aug 5, 2022
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  5. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
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    My take is that the plaintiff's don't have a leg to stand on, and I'd be curious to see what legal basis there is for their lawsuit.

    Just stating that they feel as if they're being treated unfairly by the State of Oregon doesn't strike me as a very sound basis for bringing a lawsuit.

    Sure, it would be nice if Oregon treated Washington breweries in the same manner that Washington treats Oregon breweries (at least with respect to the two instances referenced in the OP), but that doesn't mean they're legally obligated to do so.
     
    #5 John_M, Aug 5, 2022
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  6. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
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    This New School article better articulates the legal argument: https://www.google.com/amp/s/newsch...-of-oregon-alleging-discrimination?format=amp
     
    #6 sharpski, Aug 6, 2022
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  7. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
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    #7 unlikelyspiderperson, Aug 6, 2022
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  8. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
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    #8 John_M, Aug 6, 2022
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  9. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
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    I really hope he's successful, but I'm not optimistic. The Granholm case he cites is a landmark supreme court decision that (if memory serves) struck down state statutes that prohibited consumers from purchasing wine from out of state unless it was available thru a local distributor/retailer. I won't go into all the details ( but one of the dumber arguments raised by certain states was that they were protecting minor children, who might otherwise steal their parent's credit card and order expensive bottles of wine from out of state), but the court held that this was a pretty clear example of "discrimination" under the commerce clause, and was an unlawful restraint on interstate commerce.

    That being said, my recollection is that the court also held that States could still regulate wine importation/distribution as they so choose (many states were concerned about the loss of revenue if they allowed mail order wine sales - they wanted to be able to tax it), they just couldn't enact any laws that flat out prohibited it.

    That's probably an oversimplification and a very brief summary of the case, but at least to me, I don't see how the facts of that case are going to help out the plaintiffs in the current situation. I don't think the case can be used to force Oregon to enact laws that are more favorable to the plaintiffs, simply because they can point to other states (Washington in this case) that have such laws in existence (that are more favorable to out of state breweries).

    But what the hell... It's their time and money and I hope it works out for them.
     
    #9 John_M, Aug 6, 2022
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  10. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
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    That's pretty much how I feel as well. Their proposed arguments don't make much sense to me, but I'm tremendously unqualified to have an opinion on the matter.

    It'll make for an interesting case and the ramifications of success from the plaintiffs are very intriguing.
     
    #10 unlikelyspiderperson, Aug 6, 2022
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  11. DefenCorps

    DefenCorps Grand Pooh-Bah (4,838) Jan 18, 2007 Oregon
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    Why are you on the internet then?
     
    #11 DefenCorps, Aug 7, 2022
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  12. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
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    Isn't being tremendously unqualified on a given topic a requirement to post on the internet?
     
    #12 BBThunderbolt, Aug 7, 2022
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  13. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
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    I'll direct that question to my council

     
    #13 unlikelyspiderperson, Aug 7, 2022
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  14. ChicagoJ

    ChicagoJ Grand Pooh-Bah (5,247) Feb 2, 2015 Illinois
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    The challenge of the limitations of out-of-state breweries to ship directly to consumers, on equal footing as in-state shipments, has merit based on the 2005 Granholm v. Heald decision.

    https://www.oyez.org/cases/2004/03-1116

    However, the above ruling does not pertain to State regulations covering distributors/wholesalers, and brewery shipments direct to retailers. The 9th District recently affirmed a state's right to regulate wholesale and import licenses, and no other district (8th - Missouri and others) have ruled contrary. It appears the challenge to self-distribute directly to Oregon retailers will not win, based on prior decisions.

    https://www.alcohollawreview.com/new-shipping-lawsuit-filed-in-california/

     
    #14 ChicagoJ, Aug 7, 2022
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