Amendment 21 — State Power Over Alcohol And Individual Rights

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Twenty-First Amendment , Section 2:

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Much of the Supreme Court’s Twenty-First Amendment jurisprudence has addressed the extent to which the dormant aspects of the federal government’s power over interstate and foreign commerce limit the states’ regulatory authority over imported alcoholic beverages.[1](https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-21/state-power-over-alcohol-and-individual-rights#fn1amd21 " See (discussing the relationship between the Twenty-First Amendment and the Dormant Commerce Clause doctrines). ") However, the Court’s decisions have also explored the relationship between the states’ Section 2 powers and provisions of the Constitution that specifically protect individual rights from state interference. In this vein, the Court has determined that the Twenty-First Amendment does not authorize the states to ignore the First Amendment ’s protections for freedom of speech and religion[2](https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-21/state-power-over-alcohol-and-individual-rights#fn2amd21 " See U.S. Const.amend. I; . ") or the Fourteenth Amendment ’s guarantees of due process and equal protection of the laws.[3](https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-21/state-power-over-alcohol-and-individual-rights#fn3amd21 " See U.S. Const. amend. XIV; . In addition, under the Supremacy Clause of Article VI, federal law may preempt conflicting state liquor laws when the federal government’s regulatory interests outweigh those asserted by the states. For more on the federal government’s authority to regulate alcoholic beverages in light of the Twenty-First Amendment, see and . The federal government’s regulatory authority over alcoholic beverages is also subject to constitutional constraints under provisions such as the First and Fifth Amendments. ")

Footnotes

1

See (discussing the relationship between the Twenty-First Amendment and the Dormant Commerce Clause doctrines).

2

See U.S. Const.amend. I; .

3

See U.S. Const. amend. XIV ; . In addition, under the Supremacy Clause of Article VI, federal law may preempt conflicting state liquor laws when the federal government’s regulatory interests outweigh those asserted by the states. For more on the federal government’s authority to regulate alcoholic beverages in light of the Twenty-First Amendment , see and . The federal government’s regulatory authority over alcoholic beverages is also subject to constitutional constraints under provisions such as the First and Fifth Amendment s.