LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Kentucky officials and a package liquor store are asking a federal judge to stop enforcement of a ruling that would allow grocery stores and other outlets to sell booze.
The Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and The Party Source store told U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II in motions filed Wednesday that expanding liquor sales during the appeal process would cause "irreparable harm."
Heyburn ruled in August that Kentucky's law barring grocery stores, gas stations and other retailers from selling wine and liquor is unconstitutional because it violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
The state and liquor store say they plan to appeal the decision to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
