I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2031
To provide for injunctive relief in Federal district court to enforce State
laws relating to the interstate transportation of intoxicating liquor.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 7, 1999
Mr. SCARBOROUGH (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. DELAHUNT, and
Mr. CANNON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide for injunctive relief in Federal district court to
enforce State laws relating to the interstate transpor-
tation of intoxicating liquor.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Twenty-First Amend-
ment Enforcement Act’’.
SEC. 2. SHIPMENT OF INTOXICATING LIQUOR INTO STATE
IN VIOLATION OF STATE LAW.
The Act entitled ‘‘An Act divesting intoxicating liq-
uors of their interstate character in certain cases’’, ap-
proved March 1, 1913 (commonly known as the ‘‘Webb-
Kenyon Act’’) (27 U.S.C. 122) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 2. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF IN FEDERAL DISTRICT
COURT.
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘attorney general’ means the at-
torney general or other chief law enforcement officer
of a State, or the designee thereof;
‘‘(2) the term ‘intoxicating liquor’ means any
spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented, or other in-
toxicating liquor of any kind;
‘‘(3) the term ‘person’ means any individual
and any partnership, corporation, company, firm, so-
ciety, association, joint stock company, trust, or
other entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial
interest in property, but does not include a State or
agency thereof; and
‘‘(4) the term ‘State’ means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or pos-
session of the United States.
‘‘(b) ACTION BY STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL.—If
the attorney general of a State has reasonable cause to
believe that a person is engaged in, is about to engage
in, or has engaged in, any act that would constitute a vio-
lation of a State law regulating the importation or trans-
portation of any intoxicating liquor, the attorney general
may bring a civil action in accordance with this section
for injunctive relief (including a preliminary or permanent
injunction or other order) against the person, as the attor-
ney general determines to be necessary to—
‘‘(1) restrain the person from engaging, or con-
tinuing to engage, in the violation; and
‘‘(2) enforce compliance with the State law.
‘‘(c) FEDERAL JURISDICTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The district courts of the
United States shall have jurisdiction over any action
brought under this section by an attorney general of
a State against any person, except one licensed or
otherwise authorized to produce, sell, or store intoxi-
cating liquor in such State.
‘‘(2) VENUE.—An action under this section
may be brought only in accordance with section
1391 of title 28, United States Code, or in the dis-
trict in which the recipient of the intoxicating liquor
resides or is found.
‘‘(d) 
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
INJUNCTIONS
AND
ORDERS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In any action brought
under this section, upon a proper showing by the at-
torney general of the State, the court shall issue a
preliminary or permanent injunction or other order
without requiring the posting of a bond.
‘‘(2) NOTICE.—No preliminary or permanent
injunction or other order may be issued under para-
graph (1) without notice to the adverse party.
‘‘(3) FORM AND SCOPE OF ORDER.—Any pre-
liminary or permanent injunction or other order en-
tered in an action brought under this section shall—
‘‘(A) set forth the reasons for the issuance
of the order;
‘‘(B) be specific in terms;
‘‘(C) describe in reasonable detail, and not
by reference to the complaint or other docu-
ment, the act or acts to be restrained; and
‘‘(D) be binding only upon—
‘‘(i) the parties to the action and the
officers, agents, employees, and attorneys
of those parties; and
‘‘(ii) persons in active cooperation or
participation with the parties to the action
who receive actual notice of the order by
personal service or otherwise.
‘‘(e) CONSOLIDATION OF HEARING WITH TRIAL ON
MERITS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before or after the com-
mencement of a hearing on an application for a pre-
liminary or permanent injunction or other order
under this section, the court may order the trial of
the action on the merits to be advanced and consoli-
dated with the hearing on the application.
‘‘(2) ADMISSIBILITY
OF
EVIDENCE.—If the
court does not order the consolidation of a trial on
the merits with a hearing on an application de-
scribed in paragraph (1), any evidence received upon
an application for a preliminary or permanent in-
junction or other order that would be admissible at
the trial on the merits shall become part of the
record of the trial and shall not be required to be
received again at the trial.
‘‘(f) NO RIGHT
TO TRIAL
BY JURY.—An action
brought under this section shall be tried before the court.
‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL REMEDIES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A remedy under this sec-
tion is in addition to any other remedies provided by
law.
‘‘(2) STATE COURT PROCEEDINGS.—Nothing in
this section may be construed to prohibit an author-
ized State official from proceeding in State court on
the basis of an alleged violation of any State law.’’.
Æ