If you tell someone something long enough it becomes acceptable as truth. There are many laws that intrude on our rights that are wrong but never challenged. Hats off to this judge

Good. Distilling small amounts for personal use should have never been illegal.

It's about time that illegal taxes are abolished.

the only thing surprising about this case is that there is still a judge in our system who understands or cares about citizens rights and the constitution

Don't say that about home coffee makers, our entire state legislature just perked up.

Wasn't a court case, but in the early days of red light cameras the politicians argued that they were for safety rather than revenue. In one district when there was a vote on removing them, one of the same politicians stood up and said they couldn't afford to lose the revenue.

I grow a large garden and raise my own chickens for eggs,this is like the ATF saying I can't do that because they can't tax my food.

It used to be that you needed a special license from the ATF to make beer at home. President Carter signed into law around 1976 to allow people to make beer at home if it's under 200 gallons a year. And legal or not, at home distilling has been going on even before we were a country.

We can brew our own beer and make our own wine. There shouldn't be a separate law for spirits.

I wonder if the $10,000 fine was in the original law? That would have been millions in today's dollars.

I am a very old man and I had an opportunity to talk to my wife’s grandmother decade upon decade ago, actually the early 60s. She lived in the hills of Virginia and my wife’s grandfather, although deceased would partake in making moonshine. She told me that there were plenty of revenuers around those hills looking for stills and some of them are still there. It was always about the money and it definitely still is with the government..

And, that's just one of tens of thousands of unconstitutional laws legislated and on the books.

I remember a number of years ago a Kansas family had their house raided because the father and son had visited a garden center. The government reasoning that people buy equipment that can be used to grow marijuana. It seems that beyond the government’s comprehension that people shop garden centers to buy implements to grow fruits, vegetables and flowers.

My mother told me that during the depression when she was a little girl, every day before she went to school my grandfather would tell her "don't tell anybody your dad is making booze in the basement". It wasn't until years later that I realized that this was during prohibition.

The market for home distilling equipment is going to be HUGE!

I'm surprised you didn't discuss the relation of this case to Wickard v Fliburn? Or the line of cases on hemp prohibition, which is founded on the idea that you can't sell hemp without a tax stamp that the government does not issue?

The reasoning on why it's interstate commerce is if you weren't making it yourself you would be buying from someone else. And that someone else would likely be in another state and therefore it's interstate commerce. Which is master level twisting the law beyond the bounds of reason.

“The sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home…the moonshine’s in the basement “

Government charges sales tax on food served at restaurants, so they could argue that preparing meals at home is illegal because it impacts tax revenue.

It kills me that a person has to break a law to challenge it. We shouldn't have to put our livelyhood at risk it challenge bad laws.

Back in the 1960s I worked for a supermarket that sold large bags of sugar in quantities that looked suspicious. A pickup load of sugar every couple of weeks left our store. I got a lesson in personal privacy there. It's not in our business to question what someone did buying a legal commodity sugar. I guess it was a don't ask don't tell scenario.

Great now we need to remove all sugar tariffs.

I wouldn't say "better than never I guess" because if a law stays on the books for over 150 years, we do NOT want the precedent to be "Oh, it's old, so it can stay." That could be bad

I really hope this sticks. My name was passed to ATF when the supplier exhausted their attempts to keep their customers names private. I got one of those letters. 😬

People should be able to distill their own liquor in their own home.

Will this case affect Wickard v. Filburn? The case which said a person growing wheat for their own personal use was engaging in "interstate commerce?" Because it sure seems to me that this ruling goes against that one. Sure would be nice if the government got all the way off our backs, so long as we're acting privately and not actually selling something on the free market.

It’s hard to believe that this is the same country where the Boston tea party happened. It seems like every day there is a new tax or fee, that we the people never agreed too. Good for the judge🎉

Maybe this will be the first step toward rolling back Wickard v. Filburn, the case which has allowed Congress to define pretty much anything as interstate commerce, even things that aren’t interstate or even directly commercial in nature.

It would be lawyers for the major corporate distilleries that would lobby for it to be appealed.

The land of the free was born against (king's) taxation. Now the king *is* taxation (IRS, ATF, etc)

I'm loving that courts are finally reigning in the feds. They truly believe that if they say it, it is so.

Best thing ive heard all week.

If I recall when the original law was passed the federal government was getting the majority of its income from taxing alcohol. Have to remember that would of been before the federal reserve and individual income tax.

Just because it is a law for a long time don't mean it was right. They should never have been able to tell you what you can do in your own home.

the home brewed coffee comparison was perfect 👍 luv the way steve always looks to his left when he finds something perplexed or extra stupid.

Always nice to see The Revenuers getting told to step back.

Well, there was the whole Whiskey Rebellion thing....Last time a President led an Army in the US.

Gives me an incentive to clean the bathtub. My father use to talk of delivering 80lbs bag of sugar, to homes, but not to the basement, always to the attic with a tub.

Amazing there are judges out there with common sense. Amazing!!!

Pretty wild that they actually used "mah moneh!" as an argument.

I know people who distill at home but only about a gallon or three a year. Never knew a law existed to keep you from doing so

Automatic comment moderation is absolutely INSANE. KZfaq is just deleting everything now - completely clean, non-threatening, non-insulting comments about distilleries?

If this is not overturned on appeal how will it affect states other than Texas?

I read about this yesterday or the day before, Was hoping Steve would cover it. I just hope that they do not appeal. Because this would be a super cool to be able to distill at home. You can buy proper equipment today for low costs.

I recall in the 70s during the gas crisis, a ruling that allowed home distilling as long as something was added to it to make it unfit for consumption.

If it wasn't for that law, we wouldn't have NASCAR

Making of beer and wine at home only became legal in 1978.... here it is: It was not until 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed H.R. 1337, an act authorizing the home production of beer and wine without federal taxation, that homebrewing became legally permissible.

Defund the ATF. Now that Chevron is repealed and with this judgement, the entire ATF needs to go.

Can't wait for this update.

High schools ought to have a semester of constitutional class in which they examine the constitutionality of various laws on the books. This would teach the constitutional principle of law at the same time as giving review to specific laws the courts don't have resources to review. With modern networking capabilities, cogent arguments could be worked out, eventually. I know my city's local code could use a thorough review, and revision.

That’s crazy. I would have assumed after the end of Prohibition period that it would have been legal to distill your own alcohol for personal use. It’s nuts that this law was even on the books after the end of Prohibition

The village I grew up in had a large Italian population. With most of those Italian families came grape barbers in their back yards. Those grapes were used to make wine. The wine was mostly for home consumption but, was also a bartering tool. I'll give you three bottles of wine for one prosciutto ham. I once saw the neighbor behind my then future brides house shoot a couple of pigeons off his neighbors house with a BB gun. Minutes later he shows up at the house next door with squab in hand. A while later he left with a bottle of homemade wine in hand. The neighbors also used to slaughter a sheep in their garage every year. Wife to be said she'd wake up to the sound of a blatting sheep. The house she lived in was her grandfathers. There was a grape barber in the back yard and a big wood wine press in the wine cellar.

It’s a day of celebration in WV! I can see and here the fireworks from here.

My grandfather was making whiskey in his barn before, during, and after prohibition. The local sheriff's department was one of his regular customers.

I don't know if this has been addressed, but I remember watching a documentary on prohibition. On this documentary it said that before we had income taxes on wages, the government collected tax by tariffs and taxes on alcohol. Before the government could ban alcohol, they had to make a way to fund the government without the alcohol tax. That is how we got the income tax.

Ive never understood why it was OK to make beer at home and OK to make wine at home, but distilled spirits - thats wrong!

This law was passed less than 100 years after we revolted over tax on tea. And it worked. That's history.

Hell I've been making my own liquor for years!

Tax My Liquor And I’ll Dump Your Tea! “ 🤣🤣

During the global lockdown, my son and I had a great father/son project. We started home brewing. I have to admit that it was great fun! We also brewed some root beers for the kids! It’s a great way to teach anyone about how to follow recipes and learn accurate measurements. Consider it a scientific skills test!

That’s why they called the treasury agents revenues back in the day

In junior high school, every kid had a still. Every Saturday night we’d tend our stills while watching the original SNL cast on a battery powered television. Good times. You’d buy a case of Mickeys big mouth, drink half a beer and refill it with moonshine. It cut the potency to something we could handle and gave it some taste.

Thanks Steve

Wow I learn so much from your great channel!

Pretty sure Alexander Hamilton would have found a way to tax it and send an army in to collect unpaid duties.

Ben - Hey Steve, move your right arm so I can see Ben.

Many years ago, in Blythe, CA, my parents would buy a subscription to receive UHF broadcasts from Phoenix, AZ. Proof of volunteering payment would be posted on the home window, near where Dad had installed the UHF antenna.

My brother was a cop and he said any purchase you make electronically or with credit card is kept on a database, the feds don't need to contact a company to find out who they sold xyz to.

Hey Steve, you got a nice shout out at the end of the most recent IFJ video.

they had a similar ban on making beer that was lifted decades ago. This is how craft breweries were made. Frankly as long as they arent selling it there is no loss of revenue to the gov and there is no risk to the public if they get it wrong

About time. I ran into this law (not trouble with it) when I decided I wanted to try making my own vodka. It was insanity.

Just an FYI - if it isn't interstate commerce then it doesn't matter if it's a safety issue - it falls to the states if it isn't considered interstate commerce. Just like Hospitals, doctor licenses, and lawyer licenses aren't federally regulated. I work in medical devices - during a medical device inspection one of the first things the FDA does is ask for a bill of lading to show a product was shipped out of state so that they can solidly prove that they have full jurisdiction in their records.

- Finally, a judge on the right side of the constitution. - Love the coffee analogy. - All drugs should be legal, like alcohol and cigarettes, which themselves are not safe in any amount.

My understanding of the law, as the ATF used to explain it, is you could.make distilled alcohol at home so long as you paid federal taxes on it. That, I believe, is why the DOJ argued revenue as the ATF's policy has traditionally been that you can make it so long as (1) Your state allows it and (2) You pay taxes on it. A lesser law exists for homebrewing wine and beer. Almost no one discusses this. Going to Mr. Lehto's concern about safety, there's a plethora of laws regarding the making, transport, and sale of alcohol. These laws break alcohol into 4 distinct categories: Beer, New Wine, Cellared Wine (Aged Wine), and Distilled Spirits. I make mead. When I got my MBA, a company offered me a $350,000 loan to establish a meadery where I made braggots, various melomels, grand meads, etc. Unfortunately, these aforementioned laws meant i would have to create three separate meaderies (since beer and wine laws say no grain-based beverages can be in a non-grain "winery" and no cellared wine-like products can be made in a licensed new wine winery). Moreover, I couldn't transport my products without a distribution company. If I wanted to have my business in Florida and sell my product at an event in Michigan, that distribution company then had to have business licences and pay state taxes for every state on the route between Florida and Michigan (unless I shipped by railroad...which is exempt. I'm still waiting for the railroad exemption to be contested by states losing out on the alcohol taxes.) According to US DOT, if any of my priducts contained milk or milk byproducts, I would.need special hazardous materials registration since the federal government considers milk as deadly as petroleum. Then, according to the ATF, I would be required to submit my recipes to them for approval as well as any label designs. I would then have to pay an extra expedited process fee if I wanted it approved in four years. So, after talking with the feds, the compliance costs alone took a $350,000 project and grew it into necessitating the establishment of four businesses, over $6 million in additional costs, a minimum four year wait before I could start selling my product, and that didn't include the state regulations. I fear few lawyers...let aline the general public...realize how much compliance costs impact businesses. While most mistakenly think it is about safety for the public...almost all of this regulation has nothing to do with safety at all and is centered primarily on control and money. Think about tobacco. Everyone got mad at tobacco companies about adulterating their products with addiction-enhancing amminia. However, ATF have similar laws for tobacco as they do alcohol. One of those laws says the feds have to approve the ingredients list in all tobacco products. So, by default, our own government approved the ammonia and the tobacco extracts and extra nicotine additives and more. No one went after the feds.

I always thought this law was unjust. Prohibition of selling your hooch is one thing but not allowing making booze for personal use is entirely different and violates our rights. FYI, ready made home whiskey stills are available all over the Internet, including Amazon. A lot of them are not even expensive either. I hope this ruling sticks.

Thanks!

My friend's father used to distill gallons for personal use. Nothing was ever sold. At home use should absolutely be legal and I kinda wonder if the argument put forward as a tax issue was to actually help decriminalize this activity. Hopefully, people are smart enough to know how to follow proper procedure to not make a deadly spirit.

New Whiskey Rebellion, here come the revenooers!

Standard court timing too. "oh we've been infringing your rights for 156 years?, eh we'll get to it"

This is actually something interesting... I will look forward to an update on this one

Take that, Boss Hogg!

Wasn't, The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, enacted to stop the sale of marijuana by simply not issuing any stamps?

George Washington was the largest whiskey producer in the country at one time. He did it at Mt Vernon...

Any great at home distiller will make sure their process is according to pure standards. There are great books on home distilling. Try it you will like it.

So making something in your own home for your own enjoyment doesn't constitute interstate commerce. I wonder what other things this may apply to.

So does this mean that I can take my stills out of the forest now?

Steve getting called out by IJ at the end of their last video is fantastic

Please keep us apprised of any challenges or developments on this. It is very interesting to me.

Between revenue and safety, which do you think the government is more concerned about?

I am not a constitutional scholar, but it seems to me the taxing power of Congress is limited to goods that are bought/sold in one form or another. The whole reason they had to pass the income tax amendment was because Congress was limited in what it could tax. Of course, it won't take CONgress long to ban distilling outright, instead of taxing it into oblivion.

LOL, I was taught to operate a still before kindergarten, age 5. Uncle Dimy was a stickler for do it right! He and dad made barrels from white oak cut from the woods. Dad made steel bands for the barrels, cut and shaped the slats, and Uncle Dimy put them together and charred the wood. We would go to abandoned farms to clean up fallen fruit, and sprouted grain. Sour mash is green corn cut off the cob, mashed in a barrel, and fermented. But, I'm no drinker, but, I made a lot of money as a teen making wine and brandy and bought all my own school clothes and when 16, a car.

Good! About time we had a viable case to go up against the current Commerce Clause. Wickard has looong been a thorn in the side of liberty

‘Exceeded Congress’ taxing power’ is something I’ve never heard or seen from Congress 😂

Actually they should just outlaw consumption of ANYTHING at home so that everyone has to go out and pay taxes to eat every meal.

If this is upheld at the S.C.O.T.U.S. also with tobbaco , THAT would mean possibly the end of ATFE , as they would have no laws that are constitutional to enforce!!

Thank you God ! One step of freedom.

So, turns out the Whiskey Rebellion was right?

Definitely about revenue, a little about “taxes”, but more about protecting the profits of the big distillers. Similarly, Alabama kept dry counties for a long time, the root being those at the top were making lots of money with moonshining, and they didn’t want the loss of revenue and/or competition.

It should be reconsidered, are they banning bread makers too, they basically buy the same ingredients, but who’s gonna arrest someone having a bake sale? 😎

As a Californian and homebrewer, I love this Texas judge's decision. These 2 states are going to continue to shape national/federal policy.