Peerless Wholesale Liquors, Inc. v. Illinois Liquor Control Commission

Section 6 — 9 of the Illinois Liquor Control Act of 1934 (235 ILCS 5/6 — 9 (West 1996)) (the Act) is not an easy statute to wander through without getting lost. It establishes registration requirements and a scheme for the geographical restriction of wholesale liquor sales in Illinois, pauses to carve out an exception on those restrictions for certain wholesalers who were in business before 1979 (a grandfather clause), and then resumes with more restrictions. The issue before us is the impact of the final restriction on the grandfathered wholesalers. The Illinois Liquor Control Commission…