{"id":387388,"date":"2026-07-05T23:51:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/387388\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T23:51:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:51:18","slug":"californias-winery-shakedown-tests-limits-of-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/387388\/","title":{"rendered":"California’s winery shakedown tests limits of free speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

A California county is trying to force businesses to pay dues to a trade association they may not support \u2014 just like unions that once forced workers to join and to pay dues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And the precedent could hurt businesses across the Golden State.<\/p>\n

Most Californians have never heard of Flying Goat Cellars<\/a>, a family winery in Lompoc. They should.<\/p>\n

I have spent plenty of time tasting my way through Los Olivos, Solvang<\/a> and the Santa Ynez Valley over the years, and I\u2019ve had Flying Goat\u2019s wine.<\/p>\n

Santa Barbara County\u2019s newest mandate is troubling. California Outdoor Properties<\/p>\n

These are not faceless corporations. They are small businesses where the owner may be the person pouring your tasting flight and telling you the story behind the bottle.<\/p>\n

That makes Santa Barbara County\u2019s newest mandate so troubling.<\/p>\n

Last year, Santa Barbara County\u2019s Board of Supervisors created a Wine Business Improvement District. Wineries selling directly to consumers must pay a 1% assessment on their sales.<\/p>\n

Another tax? Nobody is shocked when California finds a new way to take more money.<\/p>\n

Flying Goat Cellars disagrees with the association\u2019s priorities, marketing strategy and advocacy efforts. Instagram\/@flyinggoatcellars<\/p>\n

What makes this so insidious is that it isn\u2019t a tax in the traditional sense. The money doesn\u2019t fund roads, police, parks or public programs. It funds the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association, a private trade organization that controls how the money is spent.<\/p>\n

But even that isn\u2019t the whole problem. The issue is compulsion.<\/p>\n

Wineries don\u2019t just pay the assessment \u2014 they must join the association, too.<\/p>\n

No opt out. No choice. Pay the assessment. Join the organization. Fund the speech.<\/p>\n

Flying Goat Cellars disagrees with the association\u2019s priorities, marketing strategy and advocacy efforts. Santa Barbara County says that doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

As Flying Goat co-owner Kate Griffith put it in a recent interview, \u201c[I]t\u2019s just absurd that we are having to opt-in without a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

A federal suit against Santa Barbara County and the Vintners Association has been filed on behalf of Flying Goat Cellars. Instagram\/@flyinggoatcellars<\/p>\n

The legal question is straightforward: Can government force a business owner to financially support speech he or she disagrees with? Can government compel membership in a private organization against someone\u2019s wishes?<\/p>\n

The Goldwater Institute argues the answer to both questions is no. Goldwater is a national public-interest legal organization that takes cases where government has overreached, and ordinary citizens or small businesses need serious legal firepower.<\/p>\n

Goldwater attorney Adam Shelton put it this way: \u201cThe Supreme Court has consistently held that private businesses and individuals cannot be forced to subsidize the speech of other private businesses. But that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s happening here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldwater has filed suit in federal court against Santa Barbara County<\/a> and the Vintners Association on behalf of Flying Goat Cellars and its owners.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit argues that forcing wineries to fund a private trade association violates First Amendment protections against compelled speech and freedom of association. It also raises Fifth Amendment concerns about redirecting private money to a private organization.<\/p>\n

Supporters argue the district benefits everyone through regional marketing. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn\u2019t. That is not the issue.<\/p>\n

The issue is whether government gets to make that decision for you.<\/p>\n

This should concern every California business owner: it isn\u2019t staying in Santa Barbara County.<\/p>\n

Similar wine districts already exist in Temecula, Livermore, Lodi, Amador County and the Santa Cruz Mountains. More regions are watching closely.<\/p>\n

That is how government programs spread in California. One county tries something. Another copies it. A third expands it. Soon everyone acts as though it has always existed.<\/p>\n

Flying Goat Cellars is a family winery in Lompoc, Northern California. Instagram\/@flyinggoatcellars<\/p>\n

Government has an unfortunate habit of treating successful revenue mechanisms the same way viruses treat hosts. They replicate.<\/p>\n

If this lawsuit fails, don\u2019t expect this to stay confined to wineries. Every struggling trade association in California will notice: mandatory membership, guaranteed funding and government enforcement.<\/p>\n

But something may finally end this scheme before it becomes the next California industry standard.<\/p>\n

One winery owner in Santa Barbara County was willing to become a plaintiff.<\/p>\n

That matters, because constitutional rights mean very little if only billion-dollar corporations can afford to defend them.<\/p>\n

And in my opinion, Flying Goat Cellars is likely to prevail. <\/p>\n

The Supreme Court has already told government it cannot force someone to subsidize another party\u2019s speech just because officials believe that speech serves a worthy purpose \u2014 that was the core holding in Janus v. AFSCME, when the Court struck down mandatory union agency fees for public employees in 2018.<\/p>\n

If that principle held for a government worker\u2019s paycheck, it is hard to see why it should bend for a small winery\u2019s cash register. <\/p>\n

A 1% cut of a family business\u2019s sales, sent to a trade group whose marketing priorities that business rejects, is compelled subsidization with a different letterhead.<\/p>\n

No lawsuit is guaranteed, but this one deserves to win. Because if government can force wineries to join organizations today, there is very little preventing government from forcing other businesses to do the same tomorrow.<\/p>\n

That question matters a lot more than wine.<\/p>\n

Jon Fleischman, a longtime strategist in California politics, writes at SoDoesItMatter.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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