Remember that lawsuit Flying Dog Brewery brought against the Michigan Liquor Control Commission for refusing to allow its Raging Bitch IPA in the state from 2009-2011 on the grounds that its name and label artwork were “detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the general public?”
Well, they won it. And now they are using the $40,000 in damages to establish the First Amendment Society, a free-speech advocacy group.
Michigan had actually lifted the ban on Raging Bitch, with its offensive name and grotesque label artwork, in 2011. But Flying Dog’s senior director of communications, and First Amendment Society’s executive director, Erin Weston told the Baltimore Sun that the lawsuit was always about more than money. “We were like, ‘OK, thanks, but that’s actually not the point,’” Weston said. “The point is we wanted somebody to make the call that these five commissioners and their arbitrary decision were unconstitutional.”
The non-profit organization will hold its inaugural event May 31 in D.C., during that city’s craft beer and food week. Over the summer, the group will host a series of lectures on banned books at the brewery.
