FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Harrisburg, PA, June 1, 2022 – The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has been found liable for damages, interest, and lawyers’ fees in yet another case brought against its unlawful operation. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the amount of damages paid could be more than $100,000 and lawyers’ fees over $300,000.(1) The PLCB has been found to have completely ignored a 2016 law requiring it to stop charging a handling fee.
“The PLCB has operated unlawfully for long enough,” John Thomas said, Chair of Media Relations for the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. “When a judge has to ask, ‘How do we get the government to stop violating the law?’ and the PLCB’s response is to try and hide behind sovereign immunity where only government can decide whether or not it can be sued, we have a broken system that harms Pennsylvanians.”
Pennsylvania is one of only two states in the country that have a government-run monopoly on the retail and wholesale of spirits.
“Government does not belong in the liquor business,” Thomas said. “When government runs a monopoly in any industry, choices are limited, prices are high, and consumers are hurt. Statistically, Pennsylvania has been no safer because of government control, and the overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians want the liquor and wine industries to be fully privatized. The PLCB has failed in its duty, created a broken market, and stolen from citizens. It’s time to abolish this unnecessary government bureaucracy and free Pennsylvania citizens from its abuse.”
- The Pa. Liquor Control Board is liable for damages and legal fees in wine shipping fight, an appeals court ruled. The Philadelphia Inquirer. June 1, 2022. https://www.inquirer.com/business/plcb-direct-shipping-wine-commonwealth-court-mfw-a6-20220601.html
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For additional information, please contact mediarelations@lppa.org
