Columbus, OH — On Tuesday, The Buckeye Institute filed its reply brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, responding to the federal government’s filing in Ream v. U.S. Department of the Treasury—one of The Buckeye Institute’s cases challenging the federal prohibition on home distilling. In its brief, The Buckeye Institute urged the court to resolve all of the relevant constitutional claims involved.

“Ream squarely presents the full range of constitutional justifications the government has argued at every stage of the case in defense of the federal ban on home distilling,” said Andrew M. Grossman, senior legal fellow at The Buckeye Institute, partner in BakerHostetler’s Washington, D.C. office, and counsel of record for the case. “With the government conceding that Supreme Court review of the federal ban is warranted, the Court should grant review in Ream and resolve the constitutionality of the home-distilling prohibition once and for all.”

“Mr. Ream’s case is an excellent vehicle for the court to consider the scope and reach of Congressional power under the Commerce Clause, taxing power, and Necessary and Proper Clause to regulate activities undertaken in the home,” said Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute and a lead attorney on the case. “The importance of reconsidering Raich can hardly be overstated. The Raich decision misinterprets constitutional text, conflicts with precedent, and is the most expansive expression of federal power ever to appear in a Supreme Court decision.”

Before they were married, John Ream’s wife, Kristin, gifted him with a home brewing kit. Now, Mr. Ream, a former aerospace engineer at Boeing, seeks to distill small quantities of alcohol in his own home for his own personal consumption. However, the federal government threatens Mr. Ream with years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines if he were to experiment with this George-Washington-approved activity—a hobby which is as American as apple pie and certainly predates even that beloved baked good.

Read more about The Buckeye Institute’s case and stay up-to-date on its progress at: BuckeyeInstitute.org/ReamvUSTreasury.

# # #