Tag: alcohol

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Case of Alaska Pilot Whose $95,000 Plane Was Seized Over a 6-Pack of Beer

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider an Alaska pilot’s challenge to the government seizure of his airplane for transporting an illicit six-pack of beer.

In an orders list, the Court granted the petition of Ken Jouppi, a retired 82-year-old Alaskan bush pilot who argues that the seizure of his $95,000 Cessna U206D is an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment.

Jouppi was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2012 when Alaska state troopers searched his plane before takeoff and discovered that a passenger was attempting to bring several cases of beer to a “dry” village where alcohol is prohibited. (Jouppi was only culpable for a single six-pack of Budweiser that troopers said was in plain sight.)

And for the last 14 years, Jouppi has fought to stop the Alaska state government from taking his Cessna through asset forfeiture, a process which allows police and prosecutors to seize property connected to criminal activity.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled against Jouppi last year, leading to his Supreme Court petition. Jouppi is represented by the Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm.

“I’m thrilled that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear this case, because this case isn’t just about me or my airplane anymore,” Jouppi said in an Institute for Justice press release. “I’m in my 80s now, and I’ve been fighting this for over a decade because I see it as my duty to ensure that the Bill of Rights actually means something in protecting against government overreach.”

For the Institute for Justice, Jouppi’s case is also an opportunity to build on a landmark 2019 Supreme Court ruling that held that the Eighth Amendment applied to states. Specifically, Jouppi’s case asks the Supreme Court to rule on whether states should consider the gravity of a defendant’s specific offense, rather than take an abstract view of the general crime.

“The Excessive Fines Clause of the Constitution was built for cases like this,” said Sam Gedge, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, in the press release. “As government agencies increasingly exploit fines and forfeitures to pad their budgets, it’s vital that the Supreme Court make clear that the Excessive Fines Clause is a meaningful check on government overreach. We’re confident that it will do so here.”

In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in response to an Institute for Justice lawsuit that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines and fees applies to states under the incorporation doctrine. In the underlying case, Indiana police had seized a Land Rover from a man named Tyson Timbs for a minor drug crime.

But while the Supreme Court ruled that states are bound by the Eighth Amendment, the justices left it up to state courts to determine what constitutes an excessive fine.

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Federal Ban on Home Whiskey Distilleries Now Heading to Supreme Court

When I was a young man, roaming around the woods and hills of northeast Iowa, two old guys had a still tucked away somewhere in the woods near Highlandville. I know that moonshining is something generally associated with the South, but nobody seems to have told these two old fellows, and from them you could buy a Mason jar of what they called “corn squeezings” for $10. It wasn’t bad, although if you had any left after a night’s revelry, you could always use it to strip paint and blast stumps.

Now, selling homemade hooch is one thing, I admit. But honestly, this is a free country; one should be able to set up a small still and make your own booze for personal use. And now, a case with that as a possible result, is headed to the Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to legalize home whiskey distilleries in the United States by a conservative-leaning think tank in Ohio.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled recently that the federal ban against home whiskey distilleries is unconstitutional. However, the 6th Circuit upheld the federal ban.

The federal government said the law is constitutional because it was enacted to prevent tax evasion and that it would be easier for a distiller working out of their home to conceal the business and therefore avoid paying taxes.

That last bit seems a bit of a trite argument; it’s certainly possible now for a person to do this, just as it would be if home use were legalized, as it is now for wine and beer. And, if anyone can point out to us in the Constitution where the government is authorized to regulate booze, I’d love to see it. 

As evidence of the ambiguity of all this, we might note that two different courts of appeals issued conflicting rulings in this matter, which is why the case is going to the Supreme Court.

On Monday, the Buckeye Institute filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to decide between the two conflicting appeals-court rulings.

“Two courts of appeals considered the same provisions, against the same constitutional challenge, on materially identical facts, within 11 days of each other, and issued opposite judgments,” Buckeye’s Monday petition to the Supreme Court states.

That seems a pretty clear-cut argument for the escalation.

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Sen. Rand Paul’s Son Apologizes After Alleged Anti-Semitic, Anti-Gay Tirade Targeting Rep. Mike Lawler

The son of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has issued an apology after reportedly unloading a drunken, expletive-laced tirade at New York Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY) inside a Capitol Hill bar Tuesday night.

According to multiple reports, William Hilton Paul confronted Lawler at the Tune Inn, a popular dive bar frequented by Hill staffers and lawmakers.

The outburst allegedly stemmed from frustration over the primary challenge facing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).

Paul reportedly mistook Lawler for being Jewish and launched into a ten-minute rant accusing “your people” of meddling in GOP primaries and prioritizing Israel over America.

Lawler, who is actually of Irish-Italian Catholic descent, recounted the incident publicly Wednesday, describing it as “f***ing disgusting.”

He said Paul yelled that the Iran situation was “about the gays and the Jews, and I hate them both, and I don’t care if they die,” while trafficking in classic antisemitic tropes about dual loyalty and anti-American influence.

More from New York Post:

In a phone conversation recounting the evening, Lawler told The Post that he was sitting at a popular DC bar with a friend and a reporter for NOTUS, which first revealed the incident involving William Paul.

“So Rand Paul’s f—ing son is sitting next to us at the at the bar … And he just like chimes in on our conversation, f—ing drunk and belligerent, and then starts going off about, you know, if [Rep. Thomas] Massie [R-Ky.] loses [his primary], it’s because of my people,” Lawler recalled.

“I’m like, ‘What people?’ He goes, ‘Jews,’ and I’m like, ‘Do you think I’m Jewish? … I’m Irish-Italian Catholic, buddy,’” the Hudson Valley lawmaker went on.

“He’s like, ‘Wait, you’re not Jewish?’” Lawler recalled the younger Paul asking, to which the lawmaker said he replied: “And even if I was, what’s the problem?”

“And then he got into the Middle East, and he was talking about, like, us trying to steal Iran’s land for the Jews and steal the West Bank, and I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’”

At that point, William Paul said: “This war, it’s all about the gays and the Jews, and I hate them both, and I don’t care if they die.”

[…]

“I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force,” the Kentucky senator and chairman of the Homeland Security Committee said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Paul posted a clear-eyed apology on X:

“Last night, I had too much to drink and said some things that don’t represent who I really am. I’m sorry and today I am seeking help for my drinking problem.”

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Small-Town Virginia Mayor Arrested for Showing Up Drunk to Train Derailment

A small-town Virginia mayor was arrested this week after he allegedly showed up intoxicated at the scene of a train derailment.

The derailment and arrest happened this past Tuesday near the West Virginia border, where emergency crews were responding to a Norfolk Southern derailment.

According to WSLS-TV, Rich Creek Mayor Paul Morrison was taken into custody at the scene.

Jail records showed the 57-year-old was arrested by deputies from the Giles County Sheriff’s Office on a public intoxication charge.

Authorities have not released further details about what led directly to the arrest.

Morrison was later released on his own recognizance.

According to the New York Post, Morrison was cuffed and booked after allegedly arriving inebriated at the derailment scene.

The derailment itself involved a train that spilled soybean oil into the Bluestone River.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection said the oil was not hazardous.

Morrison was elected mayor this past November through a write-in campaign.

He won 77 out of 106 votes cast in the town of roughly 700 residents, according to WSLS.

Morrison issued an apology for the arrest on Thursday.

“To my Family, the First Responders, the Town’s Employees, Town Council and the residents of Rich Creek, I would like to offer apologies for my state and any actions on 04/28 at the railroad incident,” the mayor said.

He added that he regretted “any inconvenience as well as embarrassment this may have caused.”

“I am truly sorry to have let you down and can assure you that nothing like this will happen again,” Morrison said.

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Good News: Fifth Circuit Says Government’s Tax Power Is Not Designed to Control Behavior

A somewhat under-the-radar decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit earlier this month is, on its surface, focused on the issue of home alcohol distilling. But the appeals court’s reasoning could have a big impact on other businesses and various walks of life, including the energy industry.

In short, McNutt vs. U.S. Department of Justice focused on a federal law that banned – through the government’s taxation power – the private home distillation of alcohol. But the Fifth Circuit ruled that using the power to tax as a reason to ban something is an improper abuse of power. This line of constitutional thinking could have much larger implications.

Why? Because the ruling would erect new guardrails on how the government can use its authority to impose a tax in such a way that does not raise revenue but instead bans otherwise legal activity. When we consider all the ways the government has done this over the years, it’s clear that the energy industry has been a prime target for just such an abuse of power — especially in cases where the government used its taxing authority and “necessary and proper” constitutional reasoning to regulate activities.

As a Liskow law blog summarized it, “The case originated when a group of hobby distillers challenged an 1868 federal law that effectively criminalized the distillation of spirits in or near a private residence, even for personal use. The plaintiffs, including members of the Hobby Distillers Association, argued that the prohibition exceeded Congress’s constitutional powers, particularly where the activity was noncommercial and confined to the home.”

The analysis added, “The case underscores that the federal government’s broad federal taxing authority does have limits, particularly when it intersects with private, noncommercial conduct. As challenges to federal regulatory regimes continue, McNutt may serve as an important reference point in defining the boundary between taxation and regulation.”

For energy development, the McNutt decision provides a new avenue to challenge federal prohibition of development when such prohibition has been primarily based on the government’s taxing authority. In other words, is the ban really about taxation (raising revenue), or is it about using the power of taxation to achieve regulation? The Fifth Circuit determined that the latter avenue as a sole motivator is improper.

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FBI director says he is suing Atlantic on Monday over story claiming alcohol abuse

FBI Director Kash Patel said on Sunday that he is formally suing The Atlantic on Monday over a story claiming alcohol abuse. 

“See you and your entire entourage of false reporting in court… But do keep at it with the fake news, actual malice standard is now what some would call a legal lay up,” he wrote on X on Saturday.

Patel was responding to an MS Now segment on the Atlantic’s reporting. 

Patel’s attorney posted the letter on X that he wrote to the outlet about the article.

Patel confirmed on “Mornings with Maria” on Sunday that he is going to be filing the lawsuit.

“Yes, for defamation and because, you know what? We have to fight back against the fake news,” he said. “I won’t tolerate their attacks on me.”

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US appeals court declares 158-year-old home distilling ban unconstitutional

A U.S. appeals court on Friday declared unconstitutional a nearly 158-year-old federal ban on home distilling, calling it an unnecessary and improper means for ​Congress to exercise its power to tax.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of ‌Appeals in New Orleans ruled in favor of the nonprofit Hobby Distillers Association and four of its 1,300 members.

They argued that people should be free to distill spirits at home, whether as ​a hobby or for personal consumption including, in one instance, to create ​an apple-pie-vodka recipe.

The ban was part of a law passed during ⁠Reconstruction in July 1868, in part to thwart liquor tax evasion, and subjected violators ​to up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Writing for a three-judge panel, ​Circuit Judge Edith Hollan Jones said the ban actually reduced tax revenue by preventing distilling in the first place, unlike laws that regulated the manufacture and labeling of distilled spirits on which ​the government could collect taxes.

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Alcohol Industry Group Launches Push To Regulate Hemp THC Drinks Instead Of Banning Them

A major alcohol industry trade association is launching a new campaign pushing Congress to call off a scheduled ban on hemp THC beverages and instead regulate the products for consumer access.

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) on Tuesday announced it has created an educational microsite on the issue that offers resources on the issue and argues that “the same regulatory system that has worked for alcohol should be applied to intoxicating hemp products.”

In particular, the group is supporting an approach for hemp drinks that would include federal licensure of suppliers and distributors, a federal tax, independent testing requirements and the regulation of trade practices such as a prohibition on slotting fees, while allowing states to regulate the products in their own markets.

“This framework should prioritize a safe and reliable marketplace by supporting public safeguards and consumer choice,” the WSWA microsite says. “Alcohol regulation has been an unparalleled success and can serve as a model for the regulation of intoxicating hemp products, including beverages.”

At the state level, the alcohol lobby group is calling on states to create their own licensing structures and regulatory systems with components such as an age limit of 21, excise taxes, bans on synthetic cannabinoids, testing requirements, marketing restrictions and product tracking.

In the meantime, WSWA wants lawmakers to pass pending legislation to delay the scheduled ban on hemp THC products for two years, which it says will provide enough time for a regulatory approach to be crafted. As it stands now under legislation signed by President Donald Trump late last year, hemp THC products are set to be federally recriminalized on November 12. They initially became legal under the 2018 Farm Bill that Trump signed during his first term.

The wine and spirits group’s microsite also provides facts and figures about the intoxicating hemp market, saying it supports 320,000 jobs, has $28.4 billion in potential market activity and $1.5 billion in potential state tax revenue.

It also has a countdown timer showing how long lawmakers have to act until the ban goes into effect.

“If Congress fails to act, these products face a real risk of being removed from the shelves of licensed, responsible retail stores in November, but would still be available to consumers through multiple other unregulated channels” WSWA President and CEO Francis Creighton said in a press release. “Intoxicating products, including hemp beverages, need a clear, workable framework that protects public health and public safety while allowing responsible businesses to operate. This resource is designed to inform that conversation with facts, not confusion.”

Earlier this month, the House Agriculture Committee advanced a Farm Bill that hemp industry stakeholders hoped could be used to delay the pending federal ban on cannabinoid products containing THC. But while the legislation does contain certain hemp provisions aimed at assisting farmers, it did not include any reforms to the impending recriminalization.

WSWA recently hosted a conference at which industry stakeholders and a former congressman who owns an alcohol retail chain discussed hemp product issues.

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Cause of Death Revealed for Doctor Found Dead and Naked in Miami Dollar Tree Freezer

The cause of death for the woman who was found dead and naked inside a walk-in freezer in a Miami Dollar Tree store last year was revealed this week.

As previously reported, a female doctor was found dead in a Dollar Tree freezer in Miami in December.

32-year-old Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez was found deceased and naked inside the store’s walk-in freezer in Little Havana.

Sanchez reportedly entered the Dollar Tree the night before she was found. She made no purchases and was found in an area designated for employees only.

At the time, authorities said no foul play was suspected.

It was revealed on Wednesday that Sanchez died of environmental hypothermia, with ethanol use (alcohol) being a contributory cause.

“According to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office, the cause of death for 32-year-old Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez was environmental hypothermia, with ethanol use being a contributory cause,” NBC Miami reported.

“Her toxicology report showed that her ethanol levels were 0.112%. Ethanol is the active ingredient in alcoholic beverages,” the outlet reported.

A medical expert said Sanchez may have taken her clothes off after she became confused and disoriented as the hypothermia set in.

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