Opinion ID: 480643
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Twenty-First Amendment Power

Text: 13 Appellant contends that the State of Alabama has not delegated sufficient twenty-first amendment authority to the municipalities to enable them to regulate what activities may occur in liquor licensees' establishments. This court requests that the Alabama Supreme Court address this issue in order to avoid the situation that arose in Krueger v. City of Pensacola, 759 F.2d 851, 854 (11th Cir.1985), where we invalidated a similar municipal ordinance, relying on our finding that Florida had not delegated its twenty-first amendment authority to municipalities, only to have the Florida Supreme Court rule shortly thereafter that municipalities and counties do have the authority to exercise the regulatory power of the twenty-first amendment. City of Daytona Beach v. Del Percio, 476 So.2d 197, 201 (Fla.1985). Given that to our knowledge the Alabama Supreme Court has not specifically addressed the issue of whether the State of Alabama has delegated its twenty-first amendment power to the municipalities, 3 we certify this issue to the Alabama Supreme Court rather than decide the issue ourselves by attempting to second-guess the Alabama Supreme Court. Should the Alabama Supreme Court decide that the City does have this authority, then we ask the court to address the question of whether, under state law, the Town Council may regulate liquor licensees' establishments in this manner without the express approval of the electorate. See City of Newport, Kentucky v. Iacobucci, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 383, 385-86 & n. 6, 93 L.Ed.2d 334 (1986).