The First Post

So there have been several people who have bugged me to start a blog, and to them I say: "Well ok then."

My goal with this is first and foremost to be a place for me to write about my research project this semester, both to help me organize my ideas and to keep a record of the process. I am researching conflict between the 21st Amendment and the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. In short, what happens when the 21st amendment appears to grant control of alcohol to the states, but a federal law is in conflict with those state laws? The focal point of the article is a case currently before the Federal District Court in Santa Fe, NM, US Airways, Inc., v. Lopez (6:2007cv01235). Essentially, US Airways is seeking an injunction against the State of New Mexico regarding the state's insistence that the carrier hold a liquor license to serve alcohol over New Mexican airspace. The implications for an airline victory here could be huge. A full writeup of the facts of the case and my initial impressions will be posted soon.

Hopefully, some of it will be of interest to others as well. There is a lot of caselaw to re-read, and I hope to publish short casenotes on some of the more important Alcohol Law cases as I look into their applicability. I will also post interesting updates about the alcohol industry, such as the InBev stockholder vote on the AB merger that should take place on the 29th.

Secondly, I want this to be more than just a legal blog and of interest to friends and family as well. So I'll be adding posts about other things that are going on in my life. It could be records of brewing sessions, reviews of commercial beers and homebrews, stories from law school life, photo records of weekend trips around South Florida, records of my ongoing charcuterie experiments, and who knows what else.

I have been thinking of starting this blog since last year, but between school and work I haven't had the time. This year is much more open, so I hope to post fairly regularly. Whenever I get some time at home. For example, today I am home with Ase because he snagged and ate an entire RitterSport (one of the corn flake ones! Wrapper and all!) and I am dealing with a sad-looking-and-occasionally-violently-ill mutt. Ah the joys of dog ownership...