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Donate to Massachusetts Case! We urge you to help fund litigation expenses in Massachusetts by making a tax deductible donation. Successful litigation will help to ensure that future laws governing both direct-to-consumer litigation and self-distribution will not contain provisions that discriminate arbitrarily between members of the wine industry based on the size of their production. Click here to complete and submit your pledge. In 2006, Massachusetts passed a statute authorizing both limited direct-to-consumer sales and limited self-distribution of wine to Massachusetts retailers from out-of-state wineries. The law excludes any winery and wine company producing more than 30,000 gallons annual production, and that has had a distributor in Massachusetts during the previous 6 months, from being able to participate in the new privileges. Coalition for Free Trade, Wine Institute, and other groups objected to these provisions, and had been successful in obtaining a veto in late 2005 from then Governor Mitt Romney, based on the discriminatory manner in which the bill was crafted. Unfortunately, the legislature overturned the Governor’s veto in February 2006 and the new statute became effective in the summer of 2006. Since these actions in Massachusetts, other states including Arizona, Maryland and Indiana have also included similarly discriminatory provisions in their new laws. On September 18, 2006, Coalition for Free Trade, Family Winemakers of California, and Kirkland & Ellis filed a suit challenging these discriminatory portions of the new statute. The suit, Family Winemakers of California v. Jenkins seeks preliminary and permanent injunction barring the enforcement of these provisions of the statute. Two Massachusetts wine consumers are also plaintiffs in the suit. Tracy Genesen of Kirkland & Ellis, and CFT Legal Director, is coordinating the legal actions on the suit with both Family Winemakers and the CFT. She and her firm were closely involved in the Supreme Court litigation strategy. In addition to funding from Family Winemakers of California, various individual wineries and associations have already agreed to help in funding the litigation through the Coalition for Free Trade. We urge you to give thoughtful consideration to this request for funding. Successful litigation in this area will help to ensure that future laws governing both direct-to-consumer litigation and self-distribution will not contain elements that discriminate arbitrarily between members of the wine industry based on the size of their production. For additional information, please contact Dennis Cakebread at (707) 963-5221 who is heading up this fundraising effort in his role as a board member of the Coalition for Free Trade Please send checks to: |
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