A Texas state law that has essentially prevented companies such as Costco and Walmart from selling hard liquor to customers has been determined unconstitutional by a federal judge. While those opposed to the law were extremely thrilled, those who support it have already planned to file an appeal.
The unique law mandated that publicly traded businesses were prohibited from owning liquor stores while, at the same time, allowing companies that are family-owned to grow without having to worry about any competition from other corporations, whether national or international.
If appeals of the ruling fail, then that will mean consumers throughout Texas will be permitted to purchase hard liquor from Costco, Walmart, and other similar retailers.
A comment from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, who was the chief defendant in the case, has been declined thus far. The reason they provided was the lawsuit’s pending litigation. In terms of the appeal itself, this has been promised by the Texas Package Stores Association, who has been fighting to keep the current law on the books as written. They also intervened as defendants in the current lawsuit. The associate director of the association stated that they were naturally disappointed with the ruling from the judge, as they claimed it would overturn decades of law in the state of Texas in regards to liquor sale regulations.
According to experts, such an appeal would likely take more than a year to go through the federal court system, and even longer if the case makes it all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
Thank you for visiting Gabriella Young’s blog. I am an Austin criminal defense lawyer. I write about local laws, events and news to keep Austinites informed.