If you've been waiting for the ability to distill spirits in your bathtub, your time has finally come.
According to the Daily Caller, thanks to a federal judge who just shot down a longstanding law that prohibited making your own moonshine in the bathtub, we're free to do as we please on that front.
Judge Mark Pittman said the law exceeded Congress' power, "holding that neither Congress’ tax power nor its ability to regulate interstate commerce justify the ban.'
Homebrewing beer has been legal since President Jimmy Carter signed it into law in 1978, but distilling spirits at home remained illegal.
The judge explained why he believed that distilling spirits at home is not something that Congress can control.
"Indeed, the Constitution is written to prevent societal amnesia of the defined limits it places on this government of and by the people," Pittman wrote. "That is where the judiciary must declare when its coequal branches overstep their Constitutional authority. Congress has done so here."
Late last night, after months of litigation, a federal court in Texas decided the federal ban on at-home distillation of beverage spirits is unconstitutional. The district court’s decision is fair; it is correct on the law; and it is historic. https://t.co/Chyo78AA8Z
— Competitive Enterprise Institute (@ceidotorg) July 11, 2024
The Daily Caller noted:
The Hobby Distillers Association, an organization that includes over 1,300 members, filed a lawsuit against the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TBB) and Department of Justice (DOJ) in December to challenge the ban. Competitive Enterprise Institute General Counsel Dan Greenberg, who represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement that the ruling is “a victory for personal freedoms and for federalism.”
The association added, "We’re pleased to see that the court determined that the home distilling ban is unconstitutional – and that it blocked enforcement of the ban against our clients,” Greenberg said.
"More broadly, the court’s decision reminds us that, as Americans, we live under a government of limited powers."
Users across social media generally reacted positively to the news.
"George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, both home distillers, approve," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Government doesn't endow us with rights, it prunes those we were born with. Got a branch back. Hoozah!"
The government will have 14 days to file an emergency appeal, according to the ruling.
