The Idaho State Liquor Division lifted its ban on Five Wives vodka Wednesday soon after a lawyer for the Utah distillery that makes the liquor threatened to sue.
Idaho’s Liquor Division decided several weeks ago not to carry Five Wives vodka because it found its name and label in “poor taste” and offensive to some Idahoans. The bottle shows five women in long skirts holding kittens in their laps.
Ogden’s Own Distillery in Utah makes the vodka. Partner Steve Conlin says they decided to fight back by hiring the best constitutional lawyer they could find. "There is a certain principle we have to defend here as Americans and a small business," says Conlin. "And we just can’t be bowled over when our First Amendment rights have been stepped on in such an egregious way."
Conlin and his partners hired Jonathan Turley. He’s a law professor at George Washington University. The same day Turley threatened to sue, the liquor division lifted the ban.
Division director Jeff Anderson said in a press release they wanted to avoid unnecessary litigation costs. Five Wives is now available to Idahoans by special request.
Copyright 2012 Boise State Public Radio