JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court has rejected a Scammon Bay man’s argument that Alaska’s constitutional right to privacy entitled him to make a small amount of homebrew for personal use at home.
Allen E. Hunter pleaded guilty to the illegal manufacture of alcohol in a dry area after failing to get the indictment against him dismissed. Scammon Bay, a Bering Sea community, bans the sale, import or possession of alcoholic beverages.
The Alaska Court of Appeals said local-option restrictions have previously been upheld for their ties to a legitimate legislative purpose of protecting public health and welfare by curbing alcohol use.
It said Alaska’s Supreme Court, in a landmark case involving small amounts of marijuana for personal use at home, noted the right to privacy in the home was not absolute.
