Thursday provided for a back and forth over whether or not the four beer stores selling more than 3.5 million cans of beer can have their liquor licenses renewed.
“It is a great day, I feel very good,” said Frank LaMere, with the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
Raw emotion filled LaMere when the three liquor control commissioners denied the four beer stores in Whiteclay their liquor licenses.
At that time, the commissioners thought they went through the right channels to nix the licenses.
“We wouldn’t go through this without feeling that we were doing the right thing and it was under the law,” said Bob Batt.
But on Thursday, a stunning turn of events as judge Andrew Jacobsen wrote in his decision, three points as to why to reverse the commission’s order.
1.) The NLCC’s decision was arbitrary and unreasonable
2.) The NLCC’s decision exceeds NLCC’s statutory authority
3.) The NLCC’s decision is contrary to Nebraska statutes and prior ruling of the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Senator Tom Brewer upset at the judge’s ruling but says maybe the proper protocol wasn’t followed.
"Maybe it wasn't handled perfectly and that if we are going to live by the laws than we've got to follow them to the full letter of the law," said Brewer.
But late on Thursday the Nebraska Attorney General’s office filed an appeal of Judge Jacobsen’s ruling, therefore upholding the NLCC’s order.
On Friday Gov. Pete Ricketts responds to the latest in the Whiteclay back and forth.
“This is part of our system of checks and balances we go through to make sure everybody is treated appropriately,” said Ricketts.
As of right now, the four beer stores will have to stop selling beer April 30th at midnight.
