By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – So, first you're upset, you collect wine and you can't get it shipped into Texas. Then July rolls around and you find out that an injunction was placed on the law that says you can't and now you can, so you're ecstatic, and then through some word of mouth you hear the injunction was lifted, and you're totally confused! I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Middays.
You're not alone!!!!!!
Here's a very simplified synopsis:
1920: Prohibition takes effect.
1933: Congress passes 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition, giving states broad rights to regulate the sale, distribution and importation of alcoholic beverages within and across their borders.
Now, April 1999: Texas wine-lovers file second federal lawsuit challenging state's shipping ban.
July 2002: U.S. District Court Judge rules that Texas' new shipping laws are unconstitutional.
Thank you, Wine Spectator, for those facts. But what was left out happened a little over a month later.
See, in July, when Judge Melinda Harmon ruled the new shipping ban unconstitutional because it gave an unfair competitive advantage to in-state firms, everybody was clicking their glasses. This was just an injunction until the law could be changed. Even the spokesperson for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said, go ahead and ship from wherever you want to. Then late August, across AP comes news that Harmon lifted the injunction that temporarily allowed Texans to buy directly from out of state wineries.
Now what do we do? I checked the Commission website - not a word. I checked the archives of the Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, even the Wine Spectator, and I can't find anything. So I call the Commission again and they expressed their confusion as well. It boils down to this: they're now saying ship at your own risk, it's still against the law. It's now sitting at the Attorney General's office, waiting for some decision. But how I see it, we're not going to get any kind of direction until after the election. Mr. Attorney General is running for U.S. Senate. Anybody have a glass of wine?! For KERA Marketplace Middays, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.