 Media Credit: Elizabeth Nihiser J.R. Miggs on Neil Avenue has five kegs on tap. As a business, they are permitted to have up to twenty kegs in the pub.
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An Ohio University professor and the American Civil Liberties Union are challenging the constitutionality of Ohio's Rule 68 — also known as the "five for five" keg rule — in a U.S. District Court.
Rule 68 was established by the Ohio Liquor Control Commision and went into effect Aug. 9, 2000.
The rule requires buyers of five or more kegs of beer or malt beverages to register with the beer distributor five business days prior to the purchase.
The distributor submits a notarized affidavit that provides the time, date, location and name of the person responsible for the party to the Department of Public Safety's Investigative Unit.
The signer of the affidavit must honor requests from agents of the Department of Public Safety's Investigative unit and local police to inspect the premises of the party without a search warrant.
Raymond Vasvari, legal director of the Ohio ACLU, said Rule 68 is "unconstitutional on its face" and "terribly ineffectual" because people can find ways to get around it.
Scott Hooper, associate professor of neurobiology at Ohio University, is the plaintiff in the complaint that names Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor (in her official capacity as Director of Public Safety), the Department of Public Safety and the Liquor Control Commission as defendants.
Hooper said Rule 68 rescinds constitutional rights.
"You can never be required — unless you are in the military — to give up one of your constitutional rights," he said. "It is your freedom to be free of illegal searches in return for buying a legal product."
Hooper, 46, said people his age rarely buy five or more kegs of beer at a time.
He said Rule 68 is aimed at students, and those who wrote and enforce it are hypocrites.
"We are talking about people who think they have the right and obligation to tell students how to think and act," Hooper said. "What percentage of college professors, university administrators or law enforcements official — from top to bottom — were members of the Puritan Decency League when they were in college?"
Evan Miller, a junior in business management, agrees with Hooper and said Rule 68 targets students.
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