WASHINGTON >> The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to decide the legality of a federal ban on the home distilling of alcoholic spirits that was enacted in 1868 after the U.S. Civil War to crack down on liquor tax evasion.
The dispute pits President Donald Trump’s administration, which is defending the law, against challengers who argue that the home-distilling prohibition exceeds the authority of Congress under the U.S. Constitution. More than a dozen Republican-led states have backed the legal challenge to the statute.
The Supreme Court took up the administration’s appeal of a lower court’s decision against the ban. The justices are expected to hear arguments in the case and issue a ruling by the end of June.
