A beer distributor says Maine is being a Scrooge by barring it from selling a beer with a label depicting Santa Claus enjoying a pint of brew.
In a complaint filed in U.S. District, Shelton Brothers accuses the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement of censorship for denying applications for labels for Santa's Butt Winter Porter and two other beers it wants to sell in Maine.
The episode is reminiscent of last year when Connecticut told Shelton Brothers it had problems with its Seriously Bad Elf ale.
"Last year it was elves. This year it's Santa. Maybe next year it'll be reindeer," said Daniel Shelton, owner of the company in Belchertown, Mass.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, contends the state's action violates the First Amendment by censoring artistic expression.
But the state says it's within its rights. The label with Santa might appeal to children, said Maine State Police Lt. Patrick Fleming. The other two labels are considered inappropriate because they show bare-breasted women.
"We stand by our decision and at some point it'll go through the court system and somebody will make the decision on whether we are right or wrong," he said.
The lawsuit was brought by the Maine Civil Liberties Union, which says the beer labels are entitled to First Amendment protection.
"There is no good reason for the state to censor art, even art found on a beer label," said Zachary Heiden, staff attorney for the MCLU.
The label for the English-made Santa's Butt Winter Porter shows a view from behind of Santa Claus with a pint of beer in hand sitting on top of a barrel. The beer's name has a double meaning by referring to Santa's rear end and to the "butt" of beer, a term that designates a 126-gallon barrel.
The label for a French ale, Les Sans Culottes, is illustrated with detail from Eugene Delacroix's 1830 painting "Liberty Leading the People," which hangs in the Louvre and once appeared on the 100-franc bill.
The label for Rose de Gambrinus fruit beer shows a bare-breasted woman in a watercolor painting commissioned by the Belgian brewery that makes the beer.
In a letter to Shelton Brothers, the state denied the applications for the labels because they contained "undignified or improper illustration."
By law, the liquor licensing division of the Department of Public Safety reviews between 10,000 and 12,000 applications a year for beer and wine labels. The agency typically denies about a dozen a year because they contain inappropriate language or nudity, or might appeal to children, Fleming said.
"Basically, the standard we use is what are people going to see walking up and down a store aisle," he said.
Shelton said his company filed a lawsuit against the New York State Liquor Authority last month after it denied his applications for six holiday-themed beer labels, including Santa's Butt Winter Porter. The state changed its mind but the lawsuit there is going forward, he said.
In years past, the company has had labels challenged in a handful of other states, including Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri, he said.
States have the power to regulate alcohol through the 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition in 1933. "But I don't know where they get the idea they can ignore the rest of the Constitution," Shelton said.