Academic

LAW ENFORCEMENT PRIORITIES IN PHILADELPHIA: Troopers raid popular bars for unlicensed beers: Dozen?

By Glenn Reynolds

LAW ENFORCEMENT PRIORITIES IN PHILADELPHIA: Troopers raid popular bars for unlicensed beers: Dozens of gallons seized after ‘citizen complaint.’

More than a dozen armed State Police officers conducted simultaneous raids last week on three popular Philadelphia bars known for their wide beer selections. The cops confiscated hundreds of bottles of expensive ales and lagers, now in State Police custody at an undisclosed location.

The alleged offense: Although the bar owners had bought the beer legally from licensed Pennsylvania distributors and had paid all the necessary taxes, the police claimed that nobody had registered the precise names of the beers with the state Liquor Control Board – a process that requires the brewers or their importers to pay a $75 registration fee for each product they want to sell in Pennsylvania.

Based on a complaint from someone the State Police refuse to identify, three teams of officers converged last Thursday on the three bars.

I’ll bet we’ll learn that this anonymous complainant is more than just a “concerned citizen.” And, really, this is ridiculous.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on March 09, 2010 (boomark / email).