Corporate & Securities Law

Antitrust and State Alcohol Laws

By David Fischer

Yesterday, the Nineth Circuit issued an opinion in the interesting case that Costco brought against the Washington state liquor board.

[W]e reverse the judgment of the district court insofar as it held that most of Washington?s restraints on the sale of beer and wine were hybrid restraints subject to preemption under the Sherman Act.  We affirm the district court?s rejection of Costco?s challenge to the retailer-to-retailer sales ban.  We also affirm its conclusion that under our precedents, the post-and-hold scheme is a hybrid restraint of trade that is not saved by the state immunity doctrine or the Twenty-first Amendment.

The opinion is available online.

Full post as published by Antitrust Review on January 31, 2008 (boomark / email).