Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to 1868 Federal Ban on Distilling Spirits at Home

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether Congress had constitutional authority to impose an 1868 ban on distilling spirits in private homes. The case is captioned Department of Justice v. McNutt, and the justices will hear arguments later this year or next, in the 2026 term. Federal law makes home distilling punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Two federal appeals courts split in April, 11 days apart: the Sixth Circuit upheld the ban in a case brought by Ohio brewpub owner John Ream, while the Fifth Circuit ruled for members of the Texas-based Hobby Distillers Association, finding the ban outside Congress's taxing power. The government says the ban prevents tax evasion; challengers call it an outdated relic.

Right-leaning coverage, from The Federalist, presents the distilling case as one of two high-profile cases added to the docket, alongside a case on race and school admissions. Left-leaning coverage, from HuffPost, lays out both sides' arguments and the circuit split. Alternative coverage, from Reason, quotes the Fifth Circuit's reasoning that the ban is an anti-revenue provision and also rejects the Necessary and Proper Clause defense.