A federal appeals court has invalidated a 158-year-old prohibition on home spirit distilling, declaring the law unconstitutional as it overstepped Congress’s authority to levy taxes. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Friday in favor of the nonprofit Hobby Distillers Association and its members, overturning a longstanding ban rooted in Reconstruction-era legislation from 1868.
The prohibition, initially enacted to combat liquor tax evasion, subjected violators to up to five years in prison and fines of $10,000. Circuit Judge Edith Hollan Jones wrote that the law’s enforcement mechanisms lacked constitutional justification, arguing it risked allowing Congress to criminalize private activities like remote work or small businesses—any activity potentially evading taxation.
The decision upholds a July 2024 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas, which was temporarily suspended pending appeal. The case was brought by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian legal group advocating for federal regulatory limits, with the Hobby Distillers Association founded in 2013 by Rick Morris.
Jones emphasized that without clear constitutional boundaries, the government’s approach would create “a general federal authority akin to the police power,” violating courts’ duty to interpret the Constitution carefully. Lawyers representing the plaintiffs described the ruling as a critical step toward clarifying individual liberties and enabling home distillers to pursue their passion legally.