Georgians for Sunday Alcohol Sales
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
Because we’re based in Atlanta, Georgia, we thought we would comment on an issue of concern to all Georgians. Georgia is one of only three states that still prohibit sales of alcohol on Sundays for off-premises consumption. In other words, liquor stores and other stores may not –by law — sell alcoholic products on Sundays. (Here’s a chart summarizing alcohol regulations for each state.)
Laws such as these — known as blue laws, have been around since time immemorial. Originally conceived as a method of encouraging (and even enforcing) church attendance, the laws were put to Constitutional challenge 1961. In that year, the United States Supreme Court decided McGowan v. Maryland, which held that Maryland’s Sunday closing law violated neither the Free Exercise Clause nor the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The court reasoned that, although the laws had their origin in promoting attendance at Christian religious services, the contemporary Maryland laws were intended to promote the secular values of “health, safety, recreation, and general well-being” through a common day of rest. That this day coincided with the Christian Sabbath neither reduced its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevented adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days.
As a result of the McGowan decision, each state may decide for itself whether and how to prohibit Sunday sales of alcohol. In particular, it is the purview of the legislature of each state to make these decisions.
A movement is afoot in Georgia to repeal the state’s ban on Sunday alcohol sales. Senate Bill 138 would repeal the statewide ban and allow each county or municipality to decide the issue for itself.
Many members of the alcoholic beverage industry oppose S.B. 138 and seek to keep the current ban in place. Essentially dropping the argument based on a day of rest, these industry members argue that they should not be obligated to be open on Sundays — as they would be forced to do if grocery chains, already open on Sundays, were allowed to sell beer and wine, and if large liquor superstores decided to take advantage of the extra day of sales by staying open on Sundays (aided by their more bountiful cash flows and labor pools).
We respectfully demur from the views of our fellow industry members, and we wholeheartedly support the liberalization of Sunday alcohol sales. Even accepting McGowan as the law of the land, the government has no more legitimate right or interest in promoting a “day of rest” than it does in promoting Sunday church attendance. How to spend one’s time on Sunday, or any day, is a matter for free and independent citizens to decide for themselves. As for the supposed threat from grocery chains and liquor superstores — well, that’s competition for you. If Sunday alcohol sales were allowed, no one would “obligate” any particular store to remain open. If a store remains closed but is economically penalized in the form of business lost to stores that stay open, that is no more an instance of “coercion” than losing business because you carry unpopular brands or keep your prices too high.
If you agree that the current statewide ban on Sunday alcohol sales is an inappropriate intrusion into the lives of Georgians, and want to help change it, please consider signing this online petition urging the General Assembly to pass S.B. 138 and Governor Sonny Perdue to sign it. You might also consider contacting your Georgia state senator to let him or her know you support the bill, want your right to drink free of state interference, and don’t want to live in a nanny state. Finally, consider a telephone call to Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle’s office at 404-656-5030. More information on the Vote Sunday Sales website as well as this group on Facebook.
