Categories: Politics

Whiteclay: Nebraska Supreme Court to decide on fate of beer stores

Nebraska’s Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing arguments in an appeal that may end a decades-long battle between members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the owners of a handful of beer stores in the neighboring town of Whiteclay, Nebraska.

Defenders of the stores have maintained that alcohol would remain a problem on the reservation whether they stay open or not.

We wrote extensively in the spring about Whiteclay’s alcohol problem—the town, which is populated by fewer than a dozen people, is home to four establishments that collectively sell millions of cans of beer each year. Most of that alcohol finds its way to the dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation across the border in South Dakota, where an estimated two-thirds of the population struggles with alcohol dependency.

Defenders of the stores have maintained that alcohol would remain a problem on the reservation whether they stay open or not, and citizens in neighboring towns have expressed concern that closing the stores will lead to an increase in drunk driving incidents as reservation residents travel further to reach another watering hole.

The State Liquor Control Commission in April issued a ruling that finally stanched the flow of beer from Whiteclay to the Pine Ridge. The legal path to the stores’ closure centered around an obscure state rule: In Nebraska, liquor stores can stay open only in places where “adequate law enforcement” guarantees there are enough police nearby to deal with any alcohol-related problems that may arise (public intoxication, driving under the influence, bootlegging, and so on). Whiteclay—with under a dozen residents— doesn’t have a police department.

Related Post

After a dramatic hearing that involved accusations of fabricating police log books and passionate testimony from Whiteclay residents and the Oglala Sioux attorney general, the Liquor Control Commission ruled unanimously that Sheridan County, where Whiteclay is located, didn’t provide enough police oversight to keep the stores open. The stores have been shuttered since the beginning of May.

In the weeks leading up to the stores’ closure, a rapid volley of appeals and rulings escalated the case all the way to the Nebraska Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the court’s seven justices heard arguments over whether or not the Liquor Control Commission actually had the authority to close the stores in the first place.

Andrew Snyder, the attorney arguing on behalf of the beer store owners, argued that in order deny the appeal, the Supreme Court would have to ignore a 1996 decision in which a judge ruled that liquor licenses “cannot be denied on renewal unless the premises has changed or has somehow become unsuitable to sell alcohol,” the Omaha World-Herald reports. Lawyers for the State of Nebraska and a handful of Whiteclay residents argued that this case departs from the 1996 ruling. They also argued that the beer stores had failed to notify them about the appeal, thereby rendering invalid a Lancaster County judge’s previous decision that the commission had overstepped its authority.

The Nebraska Supreme Court is expected to make its decision in the next two months. Meanwhile, the four beer stores also face charges of 22 liquor law violations brought by the state attorney general’s office. The Liquor Control Commission has not yet held a hearing on those violations.

H. Claire Brown
Share
Published by
H. Claire Brown

Recent Posts

Grist acquires The Counter and launches food and agriculture vertical

Grist, an award-winning, nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and uncovering environmental injustices,…

6 months ago

Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?

Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse…

3 years ago

Your car is killing coho salmon

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted…

3 years ago

The pandemic has transformed America’s dining landscape into an oligopoly dominated by chains 

One of the greatest pleasures I had as a child growing up in the Chicago…

3 years ago

California is moving toward food assistance for all populations—including undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants experience food insecurity at much higher rates than other populations, yet they are…

3 years ago

Babka, borscht … and pumpkin spice? Two writers talk about Jewish identity through contemporary cookbooks.

Writer Charlotte Druckman and editor Rebecca Flint Marx are both Jewish journalists living in New…

3 years ago