A Sobering Look at Why Sunday Closing Laws Violate the Sherman Act

Abstract

On April 8, 2010, an attempt to allow liquor stores to open on Sundays was overwhelmingly defeated in the Minnesota state house. Minneapolis Rep. Phyllis Kahn, who has unsuccessfully tried to overturn the Sunday closing laws for years, “tried to put an amendment on another liquor-related bill, but it was voted down 110-20.” Minnesota is one of many states that maintain a ban on Sunday liquor sales, even though Sunday sales of alcohol could bring in much-needed revenues to the state. Despite a recent momentum in opposing these bans, which date back to the seventeenth century in the United States, they continue to persist, notwithstanding repeated constitutional and political challenges.