By: Derek Hawkins//July 6, 2017//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Monarach Beverage Co., v. David Cook, et al.,
Case No.: 15-3440
Officials: FLAUM, EASTERBROOK, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Equal Protection Clause
We are again asked to decide whether an aspect of Indiana’s alcohol regulation system violates the Equal Protection Clause. Two years ago we upheld an Indiana law that prohibits grocery and convenience stores from selling chilled beer. See Indiana Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Ass’n v. Cook, 808 F.3d 318 (7th Cir. 2015). In this case Monarch Beverage Company challenges a feature of Indiana’s “prohibited interest” law that separates beer and liquor wholesaling by prohibiting beer wholesalers from holding an interest in a liquor-distribution permit. See IND. CODE §§ 7.1-3-3-19, 7.1-5-9-3, 7.1-5-9-6. Monarch contends that this component of the prohibited-interest law lacks a rational basis. A district judge rejected this argument and upheld the law. We affirm that judgment. Indiana’s policy of separating beer and liquor wholesaling survives review for rationality.
Affirm