The Buckeye Institute has filed a supplemental brief in the case Ream v. U.S. Department of Treasury, challenging the federal ban on home distilling. The filing comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ordered the government to address constitutional issues raised by The Buckeye Institute.
Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute and one of the lead attorneys on the case, said, “During oral argument last month, the government refused to address the constitutional issues The Buckeye Institute raised in this important case even after receiving a letter from the court advising that the government should be prepared to do so. And now the government has advanced a stunningly broad concept of federal power at odds with the basic structure of the Constitution.”
Following oral arguments, the appeals court directed “the government to file… a supplemental brief not to exceed 5,000 words… addressing the merits of the plaintiff’s constitutional claims.” The government’s response was filed on January 7. In its new brief, The Buckeye Institute responds to what it describes as an overreach in federal authority regarding home distilling.
Andrew M. Grossman, senior legal fellow at The Buckeye Institute and partner at BakerHostetler’s Washington, D.C., office who presented arguments for Buckeye as lead attorney in this case, stated: “Under the government’s theory, Congress could regulate or even ban the most mundane domestic activities—including home cooking, baking, gardening, and occasionally babysitting neighbor kids. This is precisely the sort of ‘police power’ the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized is reserved to the states and denied to the federal government.”
The case centers on John Ream and his wife Kristin. After nearly ten years experimenting with home brewing—a hobby begun when Kristin gave John a brewing kit—the couple opened Trek Brewing Company in Newark, Ohio in 2017. Their family-owned business supports local organizations through its Trek Community Fund. John Ream now seeks to distill small amounts of alcohol at home for personal use but faces possible prison time and fines under current federal law.
The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and educational organization based in Columbus, Ohio that focuses on advancing free-market public policy through data analysis and policy development both within Ohio and nationally (https://limpar.locallabs.com/organizations/a3850178-809a-4ca7-a725-59437705d4aa). As a non-partisan nonprofit think tank established in 1989 (https://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/), it offers research support and legal advocacy for policymakers (https://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/). The institute operates from offices on Capitol Square in Columbus (https://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/) and relies primarily on private funding sources.
Further information about this case can be found at: BuckeyeInstitute.org/ReamvUSTreasury.
