Illinois Distributors Fight Back

In a 67 page amicus brief filed late Friday, the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois fight back against Anheuser-Busch's bid to own a distributorship in Chicago, pulling out all the stops and all the arguments against a brewer owning a distributorship.  It's strong medicine.  The court hasn't accepted the brief into the record yet, but if it does it has some real doozies in it.  The crux of their argument:  the ABDI agrees with the wine and spirits wholesalers in interpreting Illinois law as not allowing any brewers to self-distribute, not just out of state brewers like A-B and the Illinois Liquor Control  Commission contend.  But even if the court finds the law ambiguous on this point, it shouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water

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