US EditionUS appeals court declares 158-year-old home distilling ban unconstitutional
The ruling says the 1868 law exceeded Congress’s taxing power and could not stand as written.
- The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared the nearly 158-year-old federal ban on home distilling unconstitutional, ruling it an improper means for Congress to exercise its power to tax.
- Enacted during Reconstruction in July 1868 to thwart liquor tax evasion, the law carried penalties of up to five years in prison, prompting the Hobby Distillers Association to challenge the ban.
- Writing for the panel, Circuit Judge Edith Hollan Jones wrote that the ban actually reduced tax revenue by preventing production, warning the government's logic could allow Congress to criminalize any in-home activity and violate the Constitution.
- Andrew Grossman, who argued the nonprofit's appeal, called the ruling "an important victory for individual liberty," as the decision upheld a July 2024 ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas.
- Pending potential government appeals, the court put the ruling on hold, while the Justice Department and the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau have not yet responded to the decision.
47 Articles
47 Articles
158-Year-Old Home Distilling Ban In United States Unconstitutional, Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court has ruled that a 158-year-old ban on home distilling is unconstitutional, saying it exceeded the constitutional authority of Congress to levy taxes. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans “ruled Friday in favor of the nonprofit Hobby Distillers Association and four of its 1,300 members,” The Washington Times reports. The group argued that people should be free to distill spirits at home, whether for personal…
Court says federal government can’t keep a lid on home distilling
A federal appeals court has ruled that a long-standing federal prohibition on distilling alcohol at home is unconstitutional. In a decision issued Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the federal ban on producing distilled spirits in homes and surrounding property violates the Constitution’s Taxation Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause. The ruling dates back to 1868 and has historically been tied to the federa…
The Epoch Times
Zero HedgeFederal Court Strikes Down 158-Year-Old Home Distilling Ban
A federal appeals court on Friday declared unconstitutional a nearly 158-year-old ban on home distilling, ruling that the ban was an unnecessary and improper means for Congress to exercise its power to tax. Writing for a three-judge panel in McNutt v. U.S. Department of Justice, Circuit Judge Edith Hollan Jones found that the ban actually reduced tax revenue by preventing distilling in the first place, the opposite of its stated intent. The cour…
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