The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday downtown Madison bars could continue their policy of not providing drink specials after 8 p.m. on weekends.
A lawsuit was filed against local bars over the policy. The bars were accused of violating antitrust laws by agreeing to the city's attempts to curb binge drinking.
The drink-special lawsuit was a major impediment to city licensing cooperation and voluntary compliance by bars for many years, according to Katherine Plominski, Madison's Alcohol Policy Coordinator.
Even in recent months, simple decisions whether or not to carry one product, people have been using antitrust implications as an argument,"" Plominski said.
An added benefit for the city, according to Plominski, is the ruling shows the state has strong powers to set additional regulations on the sale of alcohol, including license conditions.
However, according to the majority opinion, the court appeared to favor the self-imposed ban on specials because it was less restrictive than the city-proposed weeklong ban, stating the voluntary action by the bars was more competitive.
The plaintiffs said the bars were not exempt from antitrust immunity, sometimes given when the government forces all businesses to comply in regulations, because they were regulating themselves.
Plominski said she does not think there will be any more legal issues because ""they have lost at every single level,"" referring to the earlier losses by the plaintiffs at the circuit and appeals court level.
""The ruling was about a group of tavern owners who were trying to work with the city and the University to try and solve a problem,"" said Pete Madland, executive director of the Tavern League of Wisconsin, ""and someone saw it as an opportunity to try and make some money.""
Madland said he has not heard of any complaints and does not think any other issues will arise after the ruling.
According to George Twigg, communications director for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, the lawsuit was ""frivolous"" to begin with and it received the outcome deserved.
There is an active, related case in federal court, Twigg said.
""The Mayor's hope is that today's ruling will be influential in getting that action dismissed as well,"" Twigg said.
