While in general agreement with mrichich's impressions about the arbitrary nature of
liquor laws, I did notice a few factual errors in his statement. For example, the declaration that
New Jersey has no
unincorporated land is patently false. I grew up in NJ, in an unincorporated area within
Hunterdon County. There are huge areas, particularly in the more rural southern half of the state, that are unincorporated. ( I now live in
Massachusetts, which is in fact entirely incorporated).
Also, liquor licenses can indeed be bought and sold (at least in NJ, NY and MA, the 3 states where I have personal knowledge) - but only with the approval of the licensing board of the local municipality. And this seems imminently fair - it takes time and effort to qualify and preserve a license, and by making it a commodity property, the holder of the license can use it to collateralize his business, and the community can be assured that the bar for entry into the business of selling alcohol is set high enough to discourage casual abuse.
'bar' for entry. heh.
Also, shouldn't laws be catalogued as 'ideas' rather than 'things'?