Rice, Director, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control of California v. Norman Williams Co. et al. (458 U.S. 654)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided July 1, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 458 U.S. 654 · 102 S. Ct. 3294
- Decided
- July 1, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. Respondents in these cases obtained from the California Court of Appeal an extraordinary writ prohibiting the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control from enforcing an amendment to the State’s liquor statutes. That court held that because the conduct contemplated by the amendment was per se illegal under the Sherman Act, the statute on its face was invalid pursuant to the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. 108 Cal. App. 3d 348, 166 Cal. Rptr. 563 (1980). We conclude that the California Court of Appeal was mistaken in its application of antitrust and pre-emption principles, and we reverse its judgment. I Alcoholic beverages may be brought into California from outside the State for delivery or use within the State only if the beverages are consigned to a licensed importer. Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code Ann. § 23661 (West Supp. 1982). In 1979, the California Legislature amended the State’s alcoholic beverage control laws to provide that a “licensed importer shall not purchase or accept delivery of any brand of distilled spirits unless he is designated as an authorized importer of such brand by the brand owner or his authorized agent.” § 23672. This challenged statute, which was to become effective on January 1, 1980, is understandably referred to as a “designation statute.” California apparently enacted…
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