*UPDATE*
Oral arguments on the alcopops case were heard on November 3, 2011 before the Nebraska Supreme Court. Oral Arguments are uploaded to the Supreme Court’s Web site within 24 hours from the day in which arguments conclude. http://www.supremecourt.ne.gov/oral-arguments/sc/archive/audioarchievemainsc.shtml?sub1.
Attorney General Jon Bruning appealed the Lancaster County District Court’s ruling declaring alcopops as distilled spirits with the Supreme Court on February 22, 2011. The alcohol industry’s Flavored Malt Beverage Coalition has filed an amicus brief to join the Attorney General in his appeal.
History: On February 14, 2011, Judge John Colburn of the Lancaster County District Court ruled in favor of Project Extra Mile and other plaintiffs declaring alcopops as distilled spirits in Nebraska. Within days, Attorney General Jon Bruning appealed the ruling.
A letter from the Executive Director
Dear friends:
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your long-standing support in the effort to appropriately classify alcopops as distilled spirits and to share with you that the Nebraska Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case this Thursday, November 3rd.
It was with your support that we achieved success in February of this year when Lancaster County District Court Judge John Colborn ruled in favor of Project Extra Mile and other public health advocates declaring alcopops as distilled spirits in accordance with Nebraska law.
Unfortunately, Attorney General Jon Bruning appealed the decision immediately. In a desire to keep the lower tax rate while continuing to target Nebraska’s youth, the alcohol industry’s Flavored Malt Beverage Coalition filed an amicus brief to join the Attorney General’s appeal.
While the appeal process moves on so does the evolution of the alcohol industry’s attempts to attract new drinkers. Alcopops have continued to evolve from the more simple fruit-flavored, cleverly packaged, youth-friendly products, such as Mike’s Hard Lemonade to dangerous alcoholic energy drinks to the ever-present super-size products. High-octane products such as Four Loko and Colt 45 Blast are currently available in stores across Nebraska. These super-sized products contain the equivalent of four-to-five 12-ounce cans of beer in one single 23.5 ounce container. They come with high alcohol content (11 to 12 percent) and are priced cheaply. They are also currently under scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission.
As the alcopops hearing date before the Supreme Court nears, we are reminded of the reason behind the fight to appropriately classify alcopops. Our original motive remains and is the same today – to stand in the gap for Nebraska’s young people by shielding them from the predatory practices of an industry that clearly targets our youth. There have been few times as critical as this in our work to protect Nebraska’s youngest citizens.
We thank you, sincerely, for taking the time and the energy over the years to care and to stand with us. We are hopeful that the court’s final decision will bring safeguards to the state and the nation as onlookers from around the world watch closely on Nebraska’s next step.
With gratitude and kindest regards,
Diane
Diane Riibe
State appealing judge's alcopops decision
http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_035aab79-de2d-5ce6-92a0-5292ae7c6866.html
Malt drink tax ruling appealed
By Martha Stoddard, Omaha World Herald
http://www.omaha.com/article/20110223/NEWS97/702239887