Walmart wants to sell liquor in its Texas stores. The retail giant has had to go to court to make that happen.
But the Lone Star State opposes the move. And so far Texas is winning the fight.
Texas is the only state in the U.S. that bans publicly-owned companies from receiving liquor permits. They can sell beer and wine, but not the hard stuff. That law was passed in 1995 ostensibly to keep big companies with bulk buying power from lowering liquor prices and, it's thought, increase consumption.
Many observers think the law mainly serves to protect politically powerful Texan-owned liquor chains from competition.
That's certainly the way Walmart sees it. They went to court charging discrimination in 2015. They won in federal district court but lost when the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Walmart did not prove its case.
So they took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. And on Monday the nation's highest court rejected the bid without comment.
It's not over, though. The case goes back to district court, where Walmart will have another chance to show the law intentionally discriminates against out-of-state companies
So you may see liquor in Walmart down the road. But not if the Texas liquor industry and their friends in Austin have any say about it.