WASHINGTON — One hundred years to the day after the ratification of the 18th Amendment, leading to the nation’s 14-year experiment with Prohibition, the Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether Tennessee may impose significant restriction on liquor sales.

Several justices were deeply skeptical about the law at issue in the case, which says people who want to operate liquor stores in the state must first live there for two years. The law, they said, seemed to have no purpose beyond protecting local business interests from outside competition.

Shay Dvoretzky, a lawyer for a trade association representing the state’s liquor retailers, said there were good reasons for the law.

“Duration facilitates background checks,” he said. “It facilitates investigation and enforcement of the law because somebody who’s been there for a while is more likely to have substantial assets that can be seized, and is less likely to flee at the first sign of trouble.”