Are Reciprocal Laws Unconstitutional?
Although the ruling focuses on two States’ laws that clearly discriminate against out-of-state wineries, the decision likely renders unconstitutional the direct shipping laws of other States whose laws are not commonly viewed as discriminatory. Good examples are those States with so-called reciprocal laws—laws that allow direct shipping only from States who in turn allow direct shipping into their State. Ironically, California is a prime example of a State whose reciprocal direct shipping laws are now arguably unconstitutional under Granholm v. Heald. In fact, the Supreme Court in its ruling specifically mentioned California’s reciprocal laws as illustrating the type of fragmented, alliance-driven patchwork of laws that has led to discrimination against out-of-state wineries. As the Court stated: “The current patchwork of laws—with some States banning direct shipments altogether, other doing so only for out-of-state wines, and still others requiring reciprocity—is essentially the produ
