DQ: Dormant Commerce Clause
Factual Scenario
The State of Confusion, which is the 51st state in the U.S., has a small but growing wine industry. There are essentially two wine regions in the state and numerous wineries are located in each. A large number of people visit these wineries every year, and onsight wine sales to these visitors are the primary source of income for the wineries
Legislators for the State of Confusion (“SOC” for short) are considering a bill that, if it was enacted into law, would require that labels for wine sold in SOC contain a list of information that would normally not be included on the label. Two reasons have been given for its passage. First, since the wine industry in SOC is still in its infancy, it needs as much protection as possible from competition outside the state. Since the wineries in SOC only sell locally, they would have no problem meeting the label requirements; however, wine manufacturers from outside the state would face the additional expense of having a special label just for SOC. This would, then, provide the needed protection from out-of-state competition for the local wine industry.
Second, legislators also believe that wine consumption, if excessive, is a potential health issue. Therefore, they have included health information that would also not normally be on the label.
You are a legislative assistant to a state senator and she has asked you to research the viability of the bill. You need to determine what laws exist that may affect its enforcement, and then make a recommendation on whether she should vote for it or not.
Legal Research You Have Turned Up So Far
The Federal Government has passed a national labeling requirement under the Federal Food and Drug Act (hereafter, “Act”). That law provides mandatory language that must be included on all labels of food sold in the U.S. Also, wine is included in the definition of food under the Act. The purpose of the Act is so manufacturers of food nationwide would only need one label for all food sold in all fifty states, and make it easier for these manufacturers to access these markets.
Nevertheless, the Act also allows states to add some additional language to food labels if the state has an important governmental interest in including that information.
You have also determined that the federal government’s power to pass the Act is derived from the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and whether SOC can pass its label law depends on a sub-area of the Commerce Clause called Concurrent Powers. As it turns out, an e-textbook you have from your business law class in college has an excellent review of Concurrent Powers, and you are about to read it and use it as the basis for your summary of the law and your recommendation to your boss, the senator.
The Concurrent Powers doctrine under the Dormant Commerce Clause is discussed on pages 108 and 109 of the e-textbook.
Discussion Questions
Your Initial post: (1) Summarize the relevant part of the law related to Concurrent Powers and the Dormant Commerce Clause from the e-textbook for your boss, the senator; (2) make a recommendation as to how she should vote on the bill; and (3) explain your reasoning supporting your recommendation. The key question you will need to grapple with is whether SOC has a sufficiently important governmental interest so that the additional language in the label would, or would not, be allowed under the Federal Food and Drug Act.
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