Saturday, October 20, 2012
Nebraska, drinking ID's, and the dormant commerce clause.
I was traveling for work in Nebraska for the past several days. At one bar, closed when I went by, there was an official-looking list of what ID's one needs to drink there.
OK: valid driver's license, any state. Passport. Nebraska ID.
Not OK: ID's (not driver's licenses, but state-issued ID) from other states.
I have an expired Indiana driver's license and a current Indiana ID. My beard is gray; there is no issue of whether I am 21. The Nebraska scheme is officiousness for its own sake.
Now, it seemed to me at the time that this would be a likely violation of the dormant commerce clause.
It is discrimination against residents of other states.
On another hand, alcohol regulation is sometimes an exception. I recall there was a case about wine sales to other-state residents a couple years ago, but I forget how it turned out.
[ Granholm v. Heald, 544 U.S. 460, (2005)]
I did a little research, by going to a lesbian bar for kareoke night, but they didn't ask for my ID. I'm 52 and look it, I guess. Blogger doesn't let me upload sound files. If I find somewhere else to host them I'll add to this post later. But now I need to go to google and see if there's some official statement from Nebraska on this topic.
Bingo http://www.lcc.ne.gov/Enforcement/AGE%20VERIFICATION.pdf
The five types of identification that are lawfully acceptable in the State of Nebraska for the purchase of alcohol are: 1) a valid not expired drivers or operators license from any state, 2) a valid not expired new style Nebraska identification card, 3) a military identification card, 4) a passport or 5) an Alien Registration Card. Non-Nebraska State ID cards are not acceptable.
http://www.lcc.ne.gov :
301 Centennial Mall South, 5th Floor
Lincoln NE 68509
PO Box 95046
Lincoln NE 68509
=
so not i need to check the legal status of booze and the dormant commerce clause. i was trying to remember the name of the bloomington law professor who is big on this stuff, and Posner reminded me: Patrick Baude. (Father of former Roberts clerk Will Baude.) Baude v. Heath,
538 F.3d 608, 613 (7th Cir. 2008), cited in Lebamov v Husky. http://www.alcohollawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Lebamoff.pdf
“Even though [the challenged statute] represents
the exercise of a core state power pursuant to the Twentyfirst
Amendment, a balancing of state and federal
interests must be conducted.” U.S. Airways, Inc. v.
O’Donnell, 627 F.3d 1318, 1330 (10th Cir. 2010).
The Amendment
did not give States the authority to pass nonuniform laws
in order to discriminate against out-of-state goods... Granholm.See
also Healy v. Beer Institute, Inc., 491 U.S. 324 (1989).
In recent years, the Supreme Court has held that the
Twenty-first Amendment did not protect many state
alcoholic beverage laws challenged on a host of federal
law grounds. See Arnold’s Wines, Inc. v. Boyle, 571 F.3d 185,
192-201 (2d Cir. 2009) (Calabresi, J., concurring) (reviewing
Twenty-first Amendment cases and describing
Supreme Court’s recent “vector” toward prohibiting
any state alcoholic beverage laws from discriminating
against interstate commerce); Bridenbaugh v. Freeman-
Wilson, 227 F.3d 848, 851-53 (7th Cir. 2000) (reviewing
constitutional history of alcoholic beverage law).
I think I may drop Nebraska a note and ask why they are discriminating against me.
I was in Lincoln a couple of days ago. I wanted a drink. I drink gin and tonics. I noticed a posted list of required documentation.
http://www.lcc.ne.gov/Enforcement/AGE%20VERIFICATION.pdf
The five types of identification that are lawfully acceptable in the State of Nebraska for the purchase of alcohol are: 1) a valid not expired drivers or operators license from any state, 2) a valid not expired new style Nebraska identification card, 3) a military identification card, 4) a passport or 5) an Alien Registration Card. Non-Nebraska State ID cards are not acceptable.
Now, I have an Indiana state ID card. I do not have a passport. My Indiana driver's license is expired, and not renewable, as it is suspended.
So I do not seem to have the documentation to buy a drink in Lincoln. As a retired civil rights attorney, this concerns me. It seems off hand like a probable violation of the dormant commerce clause.
See generally See Arnold’s Wines, Inc. v. Boyle, 571 F.3d 185, 192-201 (2d Cir. 2009), Bridenbaugh v. Freeman-Wilson, 227 F.3d 848, 851-53 (7th Cir. 2000)
Perhaps you could let me know if your policies have been reviewed for constitutionality by a neutral party and share that info with me, or you could change your policy, or you could grant me some sort of personal exemption if you prefer. I should note that a lot of what I do these days, as a sort of a hobby, is litigate about discriminatory ID policies.
I look forward to hearing from you.
I was traveling for work in Nebraska for the past several days. At one bar, closed when I went by, there was an official-looking list of what ID's one needs to drink there.
OK: valid driver's license, any state. Passport. Nebraska ID.
Not OK: ID's (not driver's licenses, but state-issued ID) from other states.
I have an expired Indiana driver's license and a current Indiana ID. My beard is gray; there is no issue of whether I am 21. The Nebraska scheme is officiousness for its own sake.
Now, it seemed to me at the time that this would be a likely violation of the dormant commerce clause.
It is discrimination against residents of other states.
On another hand, alcohol regulation is sometimes an exception. I recall there was a case about wine sales to other-state residents a couple years ago, but I forget how it turned out.
[ Granholm v. Heald, 544 U.S. 460, (2005)]
I did a little research, by going to a lesbian bar for kareoke night, but they didn't ask for my ID. I'm 52 and look it, I guess. Blogger doesn't let me upload sound files. If I find somewhere else to host them I'll add to this post later. But now I need to go to google and see if there's some official statement from Nebraska on this topic.
Bingo http://www.lcc.ne.gov/Enforcement/AGE%20VERIFICATION.pdf
The five types of identification that are lawfully acceptable in the State of Nebraska for the purchase of alcohol are: 1) a valid not expired drivers or operators license from any state, 2) a valid not expired new style Nebraska identification card, 3) a military identification card, 4) a passport or 5) an Alien Registration Card. Non-Nebraska State ID cards are not acceptable.
http://www.lcc.ne.gov :
301 Centennial Mall South, 5th Floor
Lincoln NE 68509
PO Box 95046
Lincoln NE 68509
=
so not i need to check the legal status of booze and the dormant commerce clause. i was trying to remember the name of the bloomington law professor who is big on this stuff, and Posner reminded me: Patrick Baude. (Father of former Roberts clerk Will Baude.) Baude v. Heath,
538 F.3d 608, 613 (7th Cir. 2008), cited in Lebamov v Husky. http://www.alcohollawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Lebamoff.pdf
“Even though [the challenged statute] represents
the exercise of a core state power pursuant to the Twentyfirst
Amendment, a balancing of state and federal
interests must be conducted.” U.S. Airways, Inc. v.
O’Donnell, 627 F.3d 1318, 1330 (10th Cir. 2010).
The Amendment
did not give States the authority to pass nonuniform laws
in order to discriminate against out-of-state goods... Granholm.See
also Healy v. Beer Institute, Inc., 491 U.S. 324 (1989).
In recent years, the Supreme Court has held that the
Twenty-first Amendment did not protect many state
alcoholic beverage laws challenged on a host of federal
law grounds. See Arnold’s Wines, Inc. v. Boyle, 571 F.3d 185,
192-201 (2d Cir. 2009) (Calabresi, J., concurring) (reviewing
Twenty-first Amendment cases and describing
Supreme Court’s recent “vector” toward prohibiting
any state alcoholic beverage laws from discriminating
against interstate commerce); Bridenbaugh v. Freeman-
Wilson, 227 F.3d 848, 851-53 (7th Cir. 2000) (reviewing
constitutional history of alcoholic beverage law).
I think I may drop Nebraska a note and ask why they are discriminating against me.
I was in Lincoln a couple of days ago. I wanted a drink. I drink gin and tonics. I noticed a posted list of required documentation.
http://www.lcc.ne.gov/Enforcement/AGE%20VERIFICATION.pdf
The five types of identification that are lawfully acceptable in the State of Nebraska for the purchase of alcohol are: 1) a valid not expired drivers or operators license from any state, 2) a valid not expired new style Nebraska identification card, 3) a military identification card, 4) a passport or 5) an Alien Registration Card. Non-Nebraska State ID cards are not acceptable.
Now, I have an Indiana state ID card. I do not have a passport. My Indiana driver's license is expired, and not renewable, as it is suspended.
So I do not seem to have the documentation to buy a drink in Lincoln. As a retired civil rights attorney, this concerns me. It seems off hand like a probable violation of the dormant commerce clause.
See generally See Arnold’s Wines, Inc. v. Boyle, 571 F.3d 185, 192-201 (2d Cir. 2009), Bridenbaugh v. Freeman-Wilson, 227 F.3d 848, 851-53 (7th Cir. 2000)
Perhaps you could let me know if your policies have been reviewed for constitutionality by a neutral party and share that info with me, or you could change your policy, or you could grant me some sort of personal exemption if you prefer. I should note that a lot of what I do these days, as a sort of a hobby, is litigate about discriminatory ID policies.
I look forward to hearing from you.
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