Appeals Court Upholds Indiana Law Barring Cold Beer in Convenience Stores

A federal judge first ruled the state law prohibiting grocery and convenience stores from selling cold beer was constitutional.

December 16, 2015

CHICAGO – This week, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a federal judge’s decision that Indiana’s law forbidding the sale of cold beer in convenience stores and supermarkets was constitutional, the Lafayette Journal & Courier reports. The Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association had filed a federal suit to change the law that doesn’t let grocery stores, convenience stores or gasoline stations sell cold beer, but does allow liquor stores to do so.

The association’s position is that the law discriminates and breaches the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, plus reduces revenue for convenience stores. Indiana argued that since liquor stores have stricter regulations, they help the state “limit and control the distribution of alcohol.” The federal judge’s position was the state had a rational basis for keeping cold beer out of grocery and convenience stores.

The 13-page opinion from the appeals court said that Indiana convenience and grocery stores “simply don’t operate in the manner required for a beer retailer’s permit.” State law does let drug stores, convenience stores and supermarkets sell “warm” beer via a beer dealer’s permit. “Indiana explains that the goal of this regulatory scheme is to curb underage beer consumption by limiting the sale of immediately consumable cold beer,” the appeals court wrote in the opinion.

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