From Weed to Whiskey: Is This the Supreme Court's Next Big Commerce Clause Case?

Supreme Court What’s at stake in Ream v. U.S. Department of the Treasury Damon Root | 7.23.2026 7:00 AM (Illustration: Ioannis Syrigos/Dreamstime/Rfaizal707/Envato) Earlier this week, lawyers for Ohio craft brewery owner John Ream, who wants to distill hard liquor at home for his own personal use but is barred from doing so by federal law, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear what could prove to be a major case about the reach of federal power. The case is Ream v. U.S. Department of the Treasury. At issue is the constitutionality of the federal ban on home distilling. According to the federal government, the ban on making hard liquor at home is a legitimate exercise of the congressional power "to regulate Commerce…among the several States." As an authority for that view, the government has