Roni Elias, a recent graduate of Florida A&M University College of Law, is the winner of Center for Alcohol Policy‘s Eighth Annual Essay Contest. The national essay contest is intended to foster debate, analysis and examination of state alcohol regulation.
Last year marked the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Granholm decision, which ruled against two states’ laws that discriminated against out-of-state alcohol producers but also affirmed, “The three-tier system is unquestionably legitimate.” Contest entrants were asked to explore how this “unquestionably legitimate” system has fostered competition, increased new products available to consumers and worked to protect consumers and the public.
“This year’s essay gave participants from across the country the opportunity to examine the impact of the 2005 Granholm decision on today’s state-based alcohol system,” said Brannon Denning, a member of the Center’s Advisory Council and associate dean and professor of law at Samford University Cumberland School of Law.
Elias’ winning essay, “Three Cheers for Three Tiers: Why the Three-Tier System Maintains Its Legal Validity and Social Benefits After Granholm,” outlines the regulatory and economic advantages of the three-tier system and how threats to the system could erode those benefits that suppliers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers receive.
“[A]s Americans have long recognized, alcohol cannot be sold in the same way as any other commodity… changing the operation of the three-tier system should not, therefore, be taken lightly,” Elias’ essay states.
Elias concludes, “Although the Supreme Court’s decision in Granholm might have seemed to offer a chance for a dramatic expansion of direct shipment and a transformation of the regulatory scheme for selling alcohol, a careful reading of that decision, along with subsequent judicial rulings have made it clear that the three-tier system is still consistent with the constitutional order.”
Gurney Pearsall, a student at the University of Colorado Law School, was awarded second place for his essay, “When Wine Enters, Sense Leaves: A Case For Why the Three-Tier System’s Regulations Stir Competition, Boost Diversity and Protect Consumers,” which compares aspects of the current U.S. alcohol regulatory system to that of European alcohol regulatory models to highlight the benefits of a state-based, three-tiered system.
The winning entrants receive prizes of $5,000 and $2,500 respectively.