When Pacific Legal Foundation agreed to represent The Crafted Keg in its challenge to the State of Florida’s ban on craft-beer growlers, PLF had no idea of the attention that the case would receive. PLF should have known of course, since experts in the field of beer recognize its importance to human culture.
A variety of publications have picked up on the story since PLF filed this growler lawsuit. The reports include this Sunshine State News story, which kicked off the news coverage last Tuesday; this piece in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay; and a great article at Reason by Damon Root, which calls the growler ban “idiotic.”
PLF also understands that the Florida Beer Wholesalers Association issued a statement opposing the lawsuit on Wednesday. This is not surprising, since the association, a consortium of beer distributors including all Anheuser-Busch distributors in the state, has opposed efforts to fix the growler law legislatively. The Crafted Keg and Pacific Legal Foundation brought this suit to benefit consumers while, as the media has long noted, the Florida Beer Wholesalers Association opposes fixing the growler law because it has the potential to hurt their bottom line, regardless of the benefit to the consumer.
The Florida Beer Wholesalers Association can make its stand in favor of irrational law, overregulation, and Big Beer. PLF is happy to stand on the side of constitutional law, liberty, and the consumer.