7th Circuit upholds Indiana’s cold beer law

Marilyn Odendahl for www.theindianalawyer.com

Cold beer will continue to be sold only by licensed liquor stores in Indiana.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld state law that prohibits convenience stores, gas stations and other retailers from selling beer cold in Indiana. In a 13-page opinion written by Judge Diane Sykes, the court Monday found the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association failed to carry its burden in showing why the state’s cold-beer statute is unconstitutional.

“The Association’s policy arguments for allowing cold-beer sales by grocery and convenience stores are matters for the Indiana legislature, not the federal judiciary,” Sykes concluded in Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, et al. v. David Cook, in his official capacity as Chairman of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, 14-2559.

The convenience stores and gas stations filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in May 2013. The plaintiffs argued Indiana’s statutes regarding cold beer sales violated the Commerce Clause, the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the 14th Amendment, and parallel provisions in the Indiana Constitution.

However, the association failed to convince the district court and argued their case before the 7th Circuit in January.