Recent Development by Alyson L. Redman
In 1995, prompted by the prospect of losing federal highway aid, the Louisiana Legislature passed Act 639, which ostensibly raised the minimum drinking age from eighteen to twenty-one by creating sanctions for retailers and purchasers of alcoholic beverages. Plaintiffs consisting of both sellers and eighteen- to twenty-year-old consumers of alcohol filed a class action suit to enjoin the enforcement of the statute, claiming that Act 639 constituted “age discrimination” in violation of Article I, section 3 of the Louisiana Constitution. The trial court agreed, declared the statute unconstitutional, and enjoined its enforcement. The State appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which affirmed the judgment of the trial court, holding that because Act 639 does not substantially further any legitimate governmental objective, it constituted arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable discrimination under Article I, section 3 of the Louisiana Constitution. Upon the State's request for rehearing and after a change in personnel on the Louisiana Supreme Court, the court vacated its first opinion, and held that raising the minimum drinking age substantially furthered the legitimate governmental purpose of highway safety. Manuel v. Louisiana, 677 So. 2d 116, 117-18 (La. 1996).
About the Author
Alyson L. Redman.
Citation
71 Tul. L. Rev. 987 (1997)