Posts under ‘federalism’

In an opinion issued Tuesday, the court of appeals held that “the limited rights Texas has given its state-licensed retailers to make deliveries do not transgress the dormant Commerce Clause.” Adding:  
We now turn briefly to the separate provisions regarding personal importing. As mentioned before, Texas has placed a limit on the quantity of alcoholic [...]

“Massachusetts officials appeal from an injunction against a 2006 Massachusetts statute establishing differential methods by which wineries distribute wines in Massachusetts, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 138, § 19F. The district court enjoined enforcement of § 19F on the ground that the law discriminates against interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause of the United [...]

“A Maryland law that sought to block strip clubs in Prince George’s County from selling alcohol carved out an unconstitutional exception for a club that was owned by a former state senator, a federal judge held this week,” reports The Washington Post here.
Read the decision.

Here’s an article I wrote for a superb publication, e-Commerce Law & Strategy. (I’ve clipped the newsletter to show my article only; if you’re interested in reading other articles in the September newsletter, you’ll need to subscribe.)  My article is about wine shipping. I was inspired after a recent visit to San Francisco, and the idea that I must have wine shipped [...]

It’s a video poker case.
Over at SCOTUSblog, they’re betting that that it is taken up by the Supreme Court. I won’t (meaning, I can’t) handicap the odds. The case concerns Jimmy Martin and his company, Lucky Strike, which have sought to enjoin enforcement of two South Carolina statutes criminalizing certain “device[s] pertaining to games of [...]

“Guns, Fear, the Constitution, and the Public’s Health,” written by Garen J. Wintemute, M.D., M.P.H., will appear in the April 3 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. (HT to You Don’t Say.)
Dr. Wintemute notes that “the $2 billion annual costs of medical care for the victims of gun violence are dwarfed by an [...]

Over at The Volokh Conspiracy Ilya Somin has posted that Berkeley is “considering enacting a zoning ordinance to restrict [military recruiters'] location[s] in much the same way as other cities use zoning to restrict or ban businesses selling pornography.” He writes:

Conservatives are justifiably outraged by the proposed Berkeley measure. I share their indignation. However, it [...]

This Seventh Circuit case is about horses. It is not pretty; in fact, it’s kinda dark.
Judge Posner, writing for the majority, begins, “Cavel International, the principal appellant (we can ignore the others), produces horsemeat for human consumption. The plant at which it slaughters the horses is in Illinois. Americans do not eat horsemeat, but it [...]

Two federal, appellate opinions concerning adult entertainment were issued this week.
From the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, there is Forty One News, Inc. v. County of Lake. Long story short: 41 News, an adult book and video store, sued the county under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, challenging the county’s adult use ordinance on federal constitutional [...]

I love bail bonding cases. Having represented several bounty hunters and bail bondspersons over the years, I can tell you that they are their own breed of cat. (Did you think I’d say “dog”?)
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided this case yesterday. It concerns two bail bondsmen who challenged a Texas statute which restricts [...]