The following editorial appeared Monday in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

Two dozen states have laws that ban mail-order purchases from out-of-state vineyards.

Officials from these states say the laws were enacted to protect the public. Really? From what?

Well, the folks defending the laws in court say the bans allow them to control the sale of alcohol so that bottles won’t fall into underage hands. Their claims make little sense.

How many 20-year-olds are going to shell out $50 or more for a bottle of merlot or chardonnay? Very few. And even if they did, those who deliver the packages can be required to check the age of the recipient.

Yet, we agree that protecting the public is at work here. These states are protecting their citizens – specifically their winemakers – from competition. New York, Michigan and the other states want to make sure fine wines from Washington and Oregon aren’t allowed to compete with their wineries.

So, in an effort to put an end to this obvious interstate protectionism, some of these laws have been challenged in court. Last week the U.S. Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear three cases, listened to attorneys make their arguments.

The high court justices seemed troubled that states could treat out-of-state wineries in a different way from those within their own borders, according to an Associated Press report.

We, too, are troubled.

Unfortunately, equity isn’t the issue. The Constitution is. And the constitutional principles in this case seem to conflict. While free trade across state lines is guaranteed by the Constitution, the 21st Amendment that repealed prohibition gives states the power to bar “the transportation or importation into any state … of intoxicating liquors.”

It’s possible states that ban wine importation could prevail. If so, the public must speak up to demand change.

It, of course, is an easy sell in the Walla Walla Valley where 63 small wineries make premium wine that is in high demand from coast to coast. Winemakers should have the opportunity to sell directly to customers. Let the free market work. Winemakers make a bigger profit margin and customers save a few bucks.

Winemakers at small wineries in Michigan, New York and elsewhere should see the benefit of letting the free market work.

And if wineries in those states find that their sales dip, the solution isn’t to ban wines from Walla Walla, Yakima or anywhere else, it’s to make better wine.