There goes alcohol sales on Thanksgiving and Christmas day

[carsontech]

This passed the house last year with 91 yeas and only 14 nays:

http://scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/bills/3385.htm

The line that is added to the existing statute:
"It is unlawful for retail liquor stores to sell liquors on Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day." Although, it looks like they are taking out the verbiage concerning the ban on elections days.

Here's a list of the House representatives and how they voted the bill, H 3385:

http://scstatehouse.gov/votehistory.php?KEY=3065

I guess us wine drinkers will have to stock up on wine before Thanksgiving and Christmas day if it passes the Senate and gets signed by the Governor.

Sure, there isn't much open on Christmas day, but I usually buy a bottle or two of wine on Thanksgiving day.

I guess our representatives think we're a bunch of sinners, so they need to legislate morality upon us... or could it be another way for cities/counties to make more money off of more special alcohol licenses?


EDIT:
It appears this bill may only effect liquor sales, not beer or wine. The reasons given by one person on the S.C. Senate Judiciary Committee is that it would help state controlled liquor stores to have a reason to close for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but will ban restaurants/bars from selling liquor on those days. See the response that PCShogun received for more information.

I remember the past few Thanksgivings where part of my family and I would go to places that serve alcohol. We would have some beer and liquor while the cooks of the family were preparing the feast at home. To some, not being able to do that in SC is not a big deal. Some will say plan ahead, or your not suppose to drink on those days, or something along those lines. Well, I don't like the government telling business when can sell something and when they can't, or when I can or can't buy something. I though SC was getting away from the blue law. :roll:

In my opinion, if you don't want to work on a certain day, plan ahead and request off. If thy wont let you off, get a group of like minded employees together and express your concern about working that day. If that doesn't work, you don't have to work at that business, find somewhere else to work that wont force you to work that day or is flexible on that certain day. Don't have the government ruin "it" for the rest of us.

 

[carsontech]

The Bill will be discussed in the SC Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow, April 10, at 3:00 p.m.

You can contact the SC Senate Judiciary Committee, to let them know where you stand, here:

http://scstatehouse.gov/email.php?T=C&C=S2000000800

 

[Schultz]

So what wrong with not selling alcohol on Christmas or Thanksgiving. Frankly the retail stores shouldn't even be open on those days, Your probably too young to remember but nothing used to be open during those holidays. As for election day well they must have realized it was pretty stupid.

 

[PCShogun]

Well, I do see your point but in the interest of fairness, not everyone is a Christian, and therefore Christmas may have little special meaning for them. I believe this is in conflict with separation of Church and State if passed due to religious observance. Are alcohol fueled riots a problem on Christmas and Thanksgiving? If not, what is the motive for the change? Do the stores being open prevent some federal employees from taking that holiday off?

If it is in respect for the Christian religion, then in fairness, alcohol should be banned during all the high Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist holidays. Not picking on the Muslims by excluding them, but your not supposed to drink alcohol anyway.

I just find it odd that our government can say you cannot have religion in the class room because that forces our religion upon those who may not follow our faith. Yet we can tell you that you cannot buy wine or beer on the high holidays because it is against our religious beliefs to drink on those days and therefore everyone must abstain.

I went ahead and sent my email to the judiciary Committee to find out on what grounds this law was submitted and what social good it is designed for.

 

[Schultz]

While the religious side is part of it and agree Govt should butt out that's not all of it. Sadly police and fire officials have to work them however they get compensated for it accordingly and are usually split shifted. What annoys me more is that nowadays the big stores especially want their employees working instead of being off for those holidays and hardly get a decent wage for working them. My better half works night shift at a Sams club and because of the black Friday fiasco has to go in early on Thanksgiving evenings, Thankfully this year the employees fought to be left alone on Christmas but the Christmas before last she worked And they finagle everyone's hours so that they don't get paid what they should. Sadly this happens everywhere mostly all for making a little extra money so it doesn't bother me too much when they want to put a ban on selling alcohol on those holidays if it means maybe a few more people can stay home and enjoy them.

 

[PCShogun]

OK, here is my reply from the State Judiciary committee. I got a very speedy reply as I had posted my question just this morning.

********************************************************************************
Senator Martin, as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked me to thank you for your email and to respond to your questions. H. 3385 has not been enacted into law at this time. I have attached a copy of the bill so you can see what has happened with it by the history on the front of the bill. The bill is still being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and if it is voted out of the Committee, it still requires 2 further readings in the Senate before it becomes law. The bill was introduced because retail liquor dealers wanted some certainty as to whether their stores would be closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. In the past, some Governors have issued proclamations closing retail liquor stores on those days, as well as the Fourth of July and New Years Day. Other Governor have not, so several retail liquor dealers asked for the statutes to be changed so there would be certainty and they and their employees could know what to prepare for with the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. As part of the legislation, the arcane requirement that retail liquor stores must be closed on a general election day would be removed.

I hope this information is of assistance to you. Again, Senator Martin thanks you for taking the time to send your thoughts and questions on this bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee.



E. Katherine Wells
Staff Attorney
S.C. Senate Judiciary Committee
[email protected]
*********************************************************************
Still, I do not understand why this needs to be law. If I own a liquor store and I want my employees to have the day off, I will close. Otherwise, I am open. It should be the responsibility of the business owner to ensure that no holiday's are being violated due to someone's religious belief. I see better what this bill is trying to do, but feel it is going about it the wrong way.

 

[C_Carson]

While the religious side is part of it and agree Govt should butt out that's not all of it. Sadly police and fire officials have to work them however they get compensated for it accordingly and are usually split shifted. What annoys me more is that nowadays the big stores especially want their employees working instead of being off for those holidays and hardly get a decent wage for working them. My better half works night shift at a Sams club and because of the black Friday fiasco has to go in early on Thanksgiving evenings, Thankfully this year the employees fought to be left alone on Christmas but the Christmas before last she worked And they finagle everyone's hours so that they don't get paid what they should. Sadly this happens everywhere mostly all for making a little extra money so it doesn't bother me too much when they want to put a ban on selling alcohol on those holidays if it means maybe a few more people can stay home and enjoy them.

I think that employee hours on holidays is a separate issue from the government telling us what we can and can't buy on given days of the year. They ban the sales of alcohol on Christmas, and the store is still going to be open for me to buy toothpaste and paper plates. So what effect are they hoping to implement, aside from control?

 

[Schultz]

While the religious side is part of it and agree Govt should butt out that's not all of it. Sadly police and fire officials have to work them however they get compensated for it accordingly and are usually split shifted. What annoys me more is that nowadays the big stores especially want their employees working instead of being off for those holidays and hardly get a decent wage for working them. My better half works night shift at a Sams club and because of the black Friday fiasco has to go in early on Thanksgiving evenings, Thankfully this year the employees fought to be left alone on Christmas but the Christmas before last she worked And they finagle everyone's hours so that they don't get paid what they should. Sadly this happens everywhere mostly all for making a little extra money so it doesn't bother me too much when they want to put a ban on selling alcohol on those holidays if it means maybe a few more people can stay home and enjoy them.

I think that employee hours on holidays is a separate issue from the government telling us what we can and can't buy on given days of the year. They ban the sales of alcohol on Christmas, and the store is still going to be open for me to buy toothpaste and paper plates. So what effect are they hoping to implement, aside from control?

It's all part of it in some form or another, In my opinion NOTHING should be open on those holidays.

 

[PCShogun]

Looking at the bill, I do not believe beer and wine are prohibited, its hard liquor. So its the package stores that would close.

Still, if I wanted to purchase liquor on these days and my faith did not prevent it, why should the law prevent me? If we are to honor these holidays then the law should apply to everything, as said above. Just bring the blue laws back if that is your intention, but then the state would lose all that revenue they made by selling exemptions to the blue law in the first place.

 

[carsontech]

Looking at the bill, I do not believe beer and wine are prohibited, its hard liquor. So its the package stores that would close.

Still, if I wanted to purchase liquor on these days and my faith did not prevent it, why should the law prevent me? If we are to honor these holidays then the law should apply to everything, as said above. Just bring the blue laws back if that is your intention, but then the state would lose all that revenue they made by selling exemptions to the blue law in the first place.

Good catch, I was confusing Title 61 Chapter 4 and Title 61 Chapter 6.

After looking at the two chapters, my new interpretation is that the bill mentioned in the original post only has to with "liquors".

 

[carsontech]

Updated my original post to reflect the intentions of this bill that the people at the state house are giving.

 

[PCShogun]

Title 61 Chapter 4 states:

*******************************************************
SECTION 61-4-10. Nonalcoholic beverages defined.

The following are declared to be nonalcoholic and nonintoxicating beverages:

(1) all beers, ales, porters, and other similar malt or fermented beverages containing not in excess of five percent of alcohol by weight;

(2) all beers, ales, porters, and other similar malt or fermented beverages containing more than five percent but less than fourteen percent of alcohol by weight that are manufactured, distributed, or sold in containers of six and one-half ounces or more or the metric equivalent; and

(3) all wines containing not in excess of twenty-one percent of alcohol by volume.
***********************************************************
Really? Beer, Ale, Porters, and wine are considered nonalchoholic and nonintoxicating? Does this mean I can slam back a 6 pack of my nonalchoholic and nonintoxicating Bud Lite, and still legally drive? I mean, how can a nonalchoholic and nonintoxicating beverage put me under the influence?

 

[carsontech]

I had the same reaction about the definitions of beer.

When I was of legal age to drink in SC, I remember reading the statutes in chapter 4 and 6. Needless to say, I was shocked at the verbiage. Sure, I got what they were trying to say and do, but the verbiage they used to do it was ridiculous.

Just start browsing the SC Code of Law and your head will explode from all the laws politicians pass. There are so many non-sense "victim-less crime" laws in SC that everyone in SC becomes criminals, several times over, everyday and they don't even know it.

 

[John Canuck]

I don't know about christmas and thanksgiving, but obviously liquor should not be sold on February 12th either. I'm writing a letter now.

 

[HOLY DIVER]

whats the difference between buying alcohol on christmas and not being able to buy it on sunday? realy? i don't drink that often anymore so its not a big issue for me,but isn't the no sunday alcohol sale a religious thing?

 

[PCShogun]

My understanding is that the Sunday alcohol sales prohibition was due to religious consideration. I naturally thought that was the case for the Thanksgiving and Christmas prohibition for liquor sales. According to the Judiciary committee, it is not.

Some S.C. governors apparently have declared the sales of liquor prohibited on Thanksgiving and Christmas while others have allowed it. Liquor store employees never knew if they got that day off or not until close to the holiday when the governor would decide. The new law being proposed simply makes it law to ban the sales and allow the employees to have those days off. Personally, I wish the government would stay out of it and leave it to peoples choice, but hey, what would lawmakers do if they aren't making laws.

 

[bigfutz]

I'm going to have to go full in with PCShogun on this. Regardless of your religious beliefs, we have the right to freedom to choose. The gubmint has no business or place imposing its agenda, whatever that may be, under the guise of some religious consideration. The basis of the concept of religion itself is that it is based on uncoerced choice and faith. If you are forced into a religion, it's not religion. I'm getting off topic here, but it all comes back to my social conservatism. Stay out of my personal business and let me live. Let businesses do what they want (within reason), and let the market decide. But don't be suprised if someone overturns your tables.