Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Federal Judiciary Blogs -> Supreme Dicta

Federal Judiciary

: Supreme Dicta

Best 9th Circuit Decision Ever!

Alternate title to this post: "They may take our lives, but they'll never take...OUR BEER!!"

Thanks to Quiz Law and Reason Magazine for bringing this landmark civil rights case to my attention.

An employee of TransUnion, one of the three major credit rating agencies, pleaded guilty to fixing people's bad credit reports in exchange for bribes. As part of his probation agreement, the trial judge wanted the man, Marcus Betts, to abstain from alcohol for three years.

Betts, who is the Rosa Parks of the Drinking-American community, challenged this requirement as an abuse of judicial discretion. And a three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit agreed unanimously. The panel found that alcohol played no role in the crime, and that Betts has not had past problems with alcohol.

Writing for the panel, Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld said: ?Moderate consumption of alcohol does not rise to the dignity of our sacred liberties, such as freedom of speech,? he wrote, ?but the freedom to drink a beer while sitting in a recliner and watching a football game is nevertheless a liberty people have, and it is probably exercised by more people than the liberty to publish a political opinion. Liberties can be taken away during supervised release to deter crime, protect the public, and provide correctional treatment, but that is not why it was taken away in this case."

So as you gather with friends and family this holiday season, please take a moment and reflect on the freedoms you enjoy as citizens of this great nation. The right to speak freely, the right to cast a ballot, and the right to enjoy a cold brew on your recliner. Thank you Judge Kleinfeld for taking a bold stand. I will raise my glass in your honor tonight. Freedom has never tasted so refreshing.

Full post as published by Supreme Dicta on December 21, 2007 (boomark / email).