Pennsylvania has some of the most draconian liquor laws in the nation. They are widely considered to be among the strictest in the United States. In the Keystone State, wine and spirit sales are controlled by the state. Wine and spirits can only be purchased in state run liquor stores and all prices are the same throughout the state. I know these laws so well because I’ve spent the majority of my legal drinking years living in the state of Pennsylvania.

The state government controls the wines and liquors that are selected for sale in the state run stores. Because the entire supply chain is controlled by the state, often certain wines or liquors that consumers prefer are unable to be purchased from state stores. This creates an opening for suppliers who are willing to take a risk by fulfilling this demand on the black market.

About a year ago, a Chester County attorney was busted while attempting to fill this void. In January 2014, Arthur D. Goldman was charged with fifteen misdemeanors for running a high-end, sophisticated bootlegging operation. He admitted to authorities that he had been selling wine through this sophisticated network for about a decade.

During the police raid of Mr. Goldman’s residence, authorities confiscated 2,447 bottles of Californian, European, and Canadian wines, which are valued at as much as $200,000. The wine is still sitting in police custody while a judge decides if the contraband should be destroyed.

In August of last year, Chester County Common Pleas Judge Anthony A. Sarcione admitted Mr. Goldman into a two-year Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program. If he completes the program, then his record will likely be expunged. Unfortunately, the fate of the wine appears less hopeful than Mr. Goldman’s future.

The Pittsburgh Post-gazette reports on the likely fate of the high-end wine owned by Mr. Goldman:

Now, Mr. Goldman and his wife, Melissa Kurtzman, are arguing for the return of their “highly individualized” collection. In a Dec. 12 motion for judgment on the pleadings, Ms. Kurtzman is described as “innocent owner” entitled to possession of her lawfully acquired property. Anyway, all of the wine isn’t contraband, they argue, and the forfeiture of 2,431 bottles is “grossly disproportionate” to the gravity of charges against Mr. Goldman. The state attorney general’s office disagreed, saying the wine is all contraband, and Ms. Kurtzman never produced any evidence to show she didn’t know the wine was being unlawfully sold. Mr. Goldman could have had to pay a maximum fine of more than $301,000 — well greater than the alleged value of the wine, the state said. The motion on behalf of the defendants was denied Jan. 28 by Chester County Common Pleas Judge Edward Griffith.

Mr. Goldman clearly broke the law when he sold products that he was prohibited from selling. This is not debatable. Because Mr. Goldman broke the law while selling wine, the wine he had in his possession at the time of his arrest is likely to be destroyed. Rather than questioning if the wine should be destroyed, why aren’t the laws and the coercive systems that lead to this insanity being questioned?

The people of Pennsylvania should begin asking why we have laws that necessitate the destruction of perfectly good products. Why is an individual having his property confiscated?

Surprisingly, most of the people in Pennsylvania don’t seem to have an issue with the current liquor laws, which grant monopoly control of liquor and wine distribution to the state. Over the past couple decades several governors have run on the platform of privatizing liquor stores, but once they gain power, this promise always fades to the background. There are simply not enough Pennsylvanians questioning the rationale of these prohibitive liquor laws.

The state government will continue to enjoy monopoly control over the sale of liquor and wine until citizens come to understand the illogical nature of the current system. The state openly admits that maintaining control over the entire liquor distribution supply chain boosts revenues. But consumers fail to recognize that the current system limits their choices and makes the end product more expensive.

Hopefully, the enforcement of this illogical law will not result in the destruction of $200,000 worth of perfectly good high-end wine. But if the wine is destroyed, then maybe it will bring attention to a broken system. Hopefully, this leads to more individuals understanding the irrational nature of the current liquor distribution system and accompanying coercive laws.

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