An Indianapolis attorney has appealed the dismissal of his lawsuit against Missouri state officials for excluding out of state distributors.
Robert Epstein, an attorney with the Epstein, Cohen, Seif & Porter law firm in Indiana, is representing the plaintiffs Sarasota Wine Market in Florida and three Missouri consumers.
“Sarasota Wine Market is losing customers in Missouri that would like to buy wine from them,” Epstein told the St. Louis Record. “But it’s broader than just my consumer clients because they are representative of the many consumer wine drinkers in Missouri that would like to get certain lines that are not otherwise available.”
Epstein sued Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control Supervisor Dorothy Taylor and Missouri Governor Michael L. Parson, alleging the state’s residency rule is unconstitutional because it discriminates against interstate commerce.
“Even in the better wine shops in St. Louis, hard-to-find wines, allocated wines, anniversary wines and birthday wines generally are not available,” Epstein said in an interview. “You have to go online to find them and have them shipped, if it was possible. Right now, it's illegal.”
Under the commerce clause, state liquor laws are violated if they mandate unequal treatment between in-state and out-of-state economic interests that benefits the former and burdens the latter, according to Epstein’s appeal brief currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis.
“Certain wines being excluded from being sold in Missouri is because of the tremendous influence of wholesalers,” he said. “The wholesalers would like to be able to control every drop of wine that gets distributed.”
According to media reports, attorneys representing the state of Missouri argued at a recent hearing that Sarasota Wine is prohibited from running an internet-only company in Missouri if the same opportunity is unavailable to resident retailers.
But Epstein stated in his brief that Sarasota Wine Market shouldn’t be required to open a store in Missouri in order to engage in interstate commerce from its current location in Florida and that a ban on interstate commerce violates the commerce clause regardless of whether opening a store in Missouri allows for partial in-state commerce.
“Currently, wine consumers, whether they are collectors, connoisseurs, or housewives, who want to get a special bottle of wine have a limited supply,” Epstein said.
The plaintiffs and defendants are waiting for a three-judge panel to decide the case.
“If we win, it means the case is sent back to the district court for further litigation,” he said.