Granholm v. Heald

Summary

Justice Kennedy, joined by Justices Scalia, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, held that Michigan and New York unconstitutionally discriminated against interstate commerce by permitting in-state wineries to ship directly to consumers while denying out-of-state wineries equivalent access. Neither the Twenty-first Amendment nor the Webb-Kenyon Act authorized that discrimination, and the States failed to establish that reasonable nondiscriminatory alternatives could not achieve their regulatory objectives. The Court affirmed the Sixth Circuit and reversed and remanded the Second Circuit. Justice Stevens, joined by Justice O'Connor, dissented, emphasizing the Twenty-first Amendment's text and historical understanding as authorizing discriminatory restrictions on liquor imports; he also joined Justice Thomas's dissent. Justice Thomas, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Stevens and O'Connor, maintained that the Webb-Kenyon Act independently authorized the challenged laws and that the Twenty-first Amendment likewise insulated them from dormant Commerce Clause review.