Russell Bridenbaugh v. Karen Freeman-Wilson, Attorney General of Indiana

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.

This case pits the twenty-first amendment, which appears in the Constitution, against the “dormant commerce clause,” which does not. Section 2 of the twenty-first amendment provides: “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.” This directly authorizes state control over imports, while the premise of dormant commerce clause jurisprudence is an inference that the grant of power to Congress in Art. I § 8 el.…