Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Blog

The Newburyport News reports that following another bar fight, Salisbury police will take measures to curb violent alcohol-fueled incidents. Police will be doing spot checks inside bars, holding more people in custody, and forwarding the names of bars that over-serve patrons to the town's liquor licensing board. License holders should be aware that they could face fines or suspensions in connection any any problems at their establishments.

The News reports that the recent fight and aggravated assault and battery arrest inside Ten's Show Club that sent a man to the hospital moved Salisbury police Chief David L'Esperance to take immediate action. This was on the heels of a violent weekend last week that saw several reports of numerous people taken into protective custody for drunkenness, as well as arrests for drinking-related fights at the beach.

Continue reading "Alcohol License Holders and Police in Newburyport To Crack Down on Drunken Behavior" »

Bloomberg reported this week on a recent UK study showing that those who drink alcohol on more than 10 days a month reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis and its painful effects.

Non-drinkers were four times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than people who drank alcohol on more than 10 days a month, according to the research published online today by the U.K. journal Rheumatology. Arthritis patients who drank regularly had less severe symptoms than non-drinkers, the study found.

Chalk this up to yet another reason why alcohol, in moderation, and consumed responsibly, can be advantageous to your health.

Perhaps not. Massachusetts wine lovers will continue to be prevented from purchasing their favorite wines directly from in-state and out-of-state wineries if House Bill 4497 does not pass next week, according to Free the Grapes!, a national consumer and winery grassroots coalition.

Stuck in the House Ways & Means Committee, HB 4497 is similar to bills in the majority of U.S. states which provide for legal, regulated, winery-to-consumer shipments. Among other provisions, HB 4497 requires wineries to purchase a state-issued shipping license, to mark boxes as requiring signature at delivery, and to limit the quantity of wine shipped to individuals. The basis for HB 4497, the "model direct shipping bill," was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and supported by the Federal Trade Commission.

In January, the 1^st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and against the state in Family Winemakers of California v. Jenkins. The lawsuit successfully challenged a 2006 law banning winery-to-consumer shipments from wineries and wine companies producing more than 30,000 gallons per year, and who retain a Massachusetts wholesaler. The 30,000 gallon capacity cap was ruled to be discriminatory and the legislature was tasked with developing a remedy.

HB 4497 removes the capacity cap and resolves a licensing issue with the common carriers (FedEx, UPS) that has prevented any wine from being shipped directly to consumers under the current statute.

Wine direct shipping has been a contentious issue during the past decade, pitting local consumers and wineries against influential Massachusetts wine and spirits wholesalers. Then Governor Mitt Romney vetoed the 2006 bill that instituted the 30,000 gallon capacity cap, but was overturned by the legislature.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced earlier this year that she would not appeal a January Federal Appeals Court decision upholding an earlier District Court decision which overturned the 2005 direct shipping law. In January, the 1^st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 2008 district court ruling that found that the state law governing direct-to-consumer shipments by wineries was unconstitutional.

The court said the law has a discriminatory effect on interstate commerce because it favors instate interests by preventing direct shipments of nearly all out-of-state wine to Massachusetts consumers while allowing direct deliveries by all Massachusetts wineries.

The flawed shipment law provided that only wineries that produce less than 30,000 gallons a year and had not used a wholesaler for distribution in the last six months could ship directly to local consumers.

The Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure in February reported favorably on legislation submitted by Senator Robert O'Leary (S 176) and Representative David Torrisi (H 317). These two bills were combined into a single committee bill, H 4497, "An Act regulating the direct shipment of wine", which provides for a $100 per winery licensing fee, requires monthly reporting and tax collections, limits shipments to four cases per consumer per year per winery and establishes stiff penalties for noncompliance. The bill also attempts to address a cost-prohibitive issue that has kept common carriers such as FedEx and UPS out of the delivery market.

A local Wareham paper reports on the 8 new full alcoholic beverage licenses to be made available in Wareham, once approved by Governor Deval Patrick. The State Senate and House of Representatives have passed a bill that will make the eight additional liquor licenses available for year-round use; the prior licenses were seasonal, from April through November. The long-sought "above quota" year-round liquor licenses are earmarked for specific businesses or locations, as required by the legislative Joint Committee on Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure. The number of liquor licenses issued to a town is based on its population, and the town must request any licenses above the quota through legislation.

The locations that will be able to apply for the full licenses include the Stonebridge Bistro, Captain Al's Restaurant, China Garden, Minerva's Pizzeria, Ella's Wood Burning Oven Restaurant, and restaurants at Wareham Crossing and A.D. Makepeace's Rosebrook Place development, according to a press release from State Senator Marc Pacheco's (D-Taunton) office. The list also included Merchants Way on the Bay, which closed suddenly in April. That license will apparently be designated for another Main Street restaurant.

The article reports that the lack of full liquor licenses has been a sore point in the Wareham and Onset business community, particularly for those restaurants with seasonal licenses that cannot serve alcohol from November 30 to April 1.

The Norwood Transcript reports that local package store Balboni's has received a four-day suspension from selling alcohol because it sold alcohol to a 16-year-old in May. The suspension will take effect August 1. On May 8, Norwood Police saw a 16-year-old boy leaving the Washington Street liquor store with three 30-packs of beer, as well as wine and vodka. The minor was bringing the alcohol to a waiting car with three teens inside. According to attorney David DeLuca, who represented town counsel at the hearing, both the Norwood Police Department and representatives present from the store agree that the minor was allowed to buy alcohol. "It is my understanding that there is no defense to the facts of the case," he said. "There is no dispute that the man was under age."

The Transcript reports that this was Balboni's Package Store's first offense since a 2007 violation by a previous owner. A new policy implemented at Balboni's since this incident requires that anyone who looks under 30 years of age must be carded.

Liquor license holders should keep in mind that valid identification to purchase alcohol can be a Massachusetts state license, a valid U.S. passport, a military ID or a Massachusetts liquor ID. An out-of-state license is not a valid ID for the purpose of purchasing alcohol. If you need a Massachusetts lawyer to represent you in connection with the sale of alcohol to a minor, please call Matthew Fogelman at 617-559-1530.

Federal Magistrate Judge Collings has denied the Beer Republic Brewing Company's request for an injunction against the Central City Brewing Company. Beer Republic contended that Central City's "RED RACER" mark infringed upon Plaintiff's "RACER 5" and "RED ROCKET" marks. Judge Collings found that as to Red Rocket, the Plaintiff has not shown similarity of marks, actual confusion, subjective intent, or strength of marks. As to Racer 5, Plaintiff has failed to establish that the marks of confusingly similar, which the Court called a factor of "utmost importance" in a likelihood of confusion analysis.

Judge Collings ruled that the public interest is best served by "fair competition in the marketplace."

The case is Civil Action No. 10-10118-RBC.

Boston City Councilor Michael Ross has requested that a hearing be held to discuss and examine the regulations and permitting and licensing process for mobile food vendors in Boston. The order references the recent growth in "mobile" restaurants and the need in Boston to regulate this emerging industry.

Massachusetts voters will decide this November the fate of ballot questions that would repeal last year's new tax on retail alcohol sales, reduce the sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, and repeal the state's affordable housing law. Proponents of the measures submitted more than the 11,099 required signatures prior to a deadline earlier this month.

Liquor retailers and distributors in Massachusetts wish to see the alcohol tax repealed, with a return to the prior exempt status for alcohol. However, that would jeopardize hundreds of substance abuse counseling, educational, and treatment programs supported by the $93 million the alcohol tax has brought in during the past fiscal year.

A Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission investigator was arrested yesterday and charged with accepting a cash bribe of several thousand dollars to help a convicted felon obtain a liquor license, the Boston Globe reported, citing the Middlesex district attorney's office. Arthur Hitchman, 39, of Melrose was charged with attempted extortion, bribery, and two counts of improperly storing a firearm. He pleaded not guilty yesterday afternoon in Malden District Court.

The Globe reports that in exchange for $3,000 in cash, Hitchman allegedly offered to obtain the liquor license for a convicted felon who was attempting to open a restaurant in Everett. Hitchman was hired as an inspector by the commission in 2001. He has been suspended without pay.

Former state senator Dianne Wilkerson admitted to a federal judge in June that she took $23,500 in bribes, pleaded guilty to attempted extortion charges in connection with securing a liquor license for a nightclub and legislation to pave the way for a commercial development in Roxbury.

The Herald reports that a bartender at a Chicopee bar accused of fatally stabbing a customer has been ordered held without bail. A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of 35-year-old Derek Fish at his arraignment Monday in Chicopee District Court. He is scheduled back in court Friday.

Police say Fish stabbed Eamonn Gallagher in the chest at the B Bar at about 2 a.m. on Sunday as the bar was closing. The two men knew each other and got into some sort of an argument, although police did not immediately say what sparked it. Gallagher, found outside, was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield where he was pronounced dead. A knife was apparently recovered at the scene.

A group representing restaurants across the country is criticizing a federal bill that would require all cars to contain alcohol detection devices. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who is sponsoring the bill, wants to divert $60 million in existing road safety funds over a five-year period to develop affordable alcohol detection devices that would help to reduce drunk-driving incidents. According to the bill, the devices would become standard in all automobiles within five to 10 years.

The detectors would utilize technology that would enable a car to determine the driver's alcohol level through skin sensors, breathalyzers or even eye movements. If a detector determines that a driver's alcohol content exceeds a certain level, the car will not start. "Drunk driving is a scourge that touches countless families . and it's time to take a fresh approach to this problem that will keep drinkers from even starting a car," Schumer said at a press conference Wednesday. "This research will provide a new tool for parents and law enforcement to make sure that families and communities stay safe."

The American Beverage Institute, which represents 8,000 restaurants, issued a statement against the proposed bill, saying that the alcohol detectors for cars would likely be set below the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent.

"The head of the research project that this bill seeks to fund has even admitted that the devices would be set below the legal limit," the group stated. "This would effectively eliminate Americans' ability to have a glass of wine with dinner, a beer at a ball game, or a champagne toast at a wedding and drive home."

Schumer's bill, the Research of Alcohol Detection Systems for Stopping Alcohol-related Fatalities Everywhere, or ROADS SAFE, Act, is part of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010.

"Alcohol detection technology is a great way to keep hardcore drunk drivers - those who cause the vast majority of alcohol-impaired fatalities - from being able to start their cars while drunk," the ABI said in its statement. "But we shouldn't be developing this technology with the aim of putting it in everyone's car."

Good piece in the Washington Post on whether the Food and Drug Administration is going to insist upon calorie listing and reporting for alcoholic beverages. As the Post article details, the federal Tax and Trade Bureau has been sitting for nearly three years on a proposal to require beer brands to disclose basic nutritional information, including the number of calories per standard serving.

Now the Food and Drug Administration might get in on the act. The Obama health care bill, signed into law in March, will require restaurant chains with more than 20 branches (more than 200,000 eateries nationwide) to disclose on their menus the calorie counts of each item. The FDA has been given a year from enactment to draw up guidelines for enforcing the new law. But the language in the health bill doesn't address alcoholic beverages. So it's an open question as to whether the FDA will insist on calorie reporting for beer, wine and cocktails??

One possible loophole, in any event: the law exempts from its nutritional disclosure requirements "items appearing on the menu for less than 60 days per calendar year." By rotating beer selections frequently, restaurants could dodge the disclosure rule, that is, if it existed to begin with.

Interesting story from Cape Cod highlighting the benefits of having some assistance from a local politician on liquor licensing issues. State Senator Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) intervened after Kenny's Salt Water Taffy owners told him that due to state ABCC back-ups and delays, they were in jeopardy of not obtaining their seasonal liquor license in time for the summer crowds. Pacheco intervened and the license was approved quickly.

Having a lawyer (or politician) in your corner can oftentimes help speed up the cumbersome liquor license application and approval process. Forms must be filled out properly, with all I's dotted and T's crossed, all tax issues must be ironed out, the manager of record has to pass muster, and then the ABCC must approve the application after it receives approval from the local municipality. With Massachusetts budget cuts in place, the ABCC's job is harder than ever; a good, zealous advocate can help make the process smoother.

As reported here a few weeks ago, the Massachusetts Legislature has now officially passed a new liquor law allowing restaurants to serve alcohol on Sundays starting at 10:00 a.m. instead of at noon. However, most restaurants cannot legally serve drinks before noon this Sunday. Local licensing boards will have to authorize restaurants before they can begin serving alcohol at 10 a.m, and it is unlikely that restaurants will be able to take advantage of the change this weekend. Restaurants must seek an amendment to their current license in order to begin serving alcohol at 10 a.m.

Once fully up and running, this change should be a boon to restaurants serving brunch, for customers wanting to enjoy a mimosa or bloody mary with Sunday brunch. As the Globe reports, two more hours of drink sales during brunch will likely bring in thousands of extra dollars per week for some restaurants and millions annually to the state through the 6 and 1/4 % meals tax.