During oral arguments in the interstate wine case today, Justice David Souter suggested that wineries post all their internal records to the internet and give the states passwords to access them. No legislating from the bench there.
Not to be outdone, Sandra Day O'Connor suggested that states could regulate wineries in other states. I can just see some small Napa winery trying to deal with impossibly countervailing demands from 17 different state bureaucracies.
Justice David Souter raised the possibility the Internet may increase the state's power to police out-of-state wineries.In short, Todd Zywicki's comments about this case presenting the Justices with very few choices are made manifest after seeing the Court grasp at so many weak straws. Todd said O'Connor would have problems. Unless they rule for the wineries this case could be a very ugly precedent.
He said states could require the out-of-state wineries to keep their financial records available online, but they could only be accessed by the state with a special password.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said states could require licenses for out-of-state wineries that would make them subject to state jurisdiction. "Isn't that feasible?" she asked.