Columbus, OH – On Wednesday, The Buckeye Institute filed its reply brief in Ream v. U.S. Department of Treasury—which is The Buckeye Institute’s case to overturn the federal government’s ban on home distilling of spirited beverages—rejecting the government’s argument that Buckeye’s client (Ohioan John Ream) does not have standing to bring the case.

“Mr. Ream has taken every possible step to prepare for the lawful and safe distillation of spirits in his own home. All except for the last one, that is—purchasing the still itself—which would subject him to criminal prosecution,” said Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, who is a lead attorney on the case. “If one buys the government’s argument about standing in this case, Mr. Ream would need to actually proceed to break the law and subject himself to federal prosecution and fines—potentially destroying his and his family’s lives—in order to challenge this unconstitutional ban on home distilling in court.”

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that U.S. Supreme Court precedent clearly demonstrates that Mr. Ream has standing to bring the case. The federal ban forbids Mr. Ream from home distilling, and that injury will be remedied only when he wins this case. Pointing out that the government explicitly refuses to “identify a single regulation of interstate commerce in distilled spirits that the prohibition supports,” Buckeye also asserts that the ban 1) is unconstitutional, 2) exceeds Congressional authority under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, and 3) violates the Tenth Amendment.

“The government does not dispute that if its arguments in this case are accepted, Congress could prohibit other innocuous activities including home employment and home cooking, which is both shocking in its temerity and also underscores why our Founding Fathers put constitutional limits on Congressional power in the first place,” said Andrew M. Grossman, a senior legal fellow at The Buckeye Institute and a partner in BakerHostetler’s Washington, D.C., office, who is a lead attorney on the case as well.

To stay up-to-date on this important case, visit BuckeyeInstitute.org/ReamvUSTreasury. 

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