High Court to Hear Grendel's Liquor License Case Monday

A Square restaurant's five-year legal struggle to obtain a liquor license will reach the United States Supreme Court next week, and experts say the resulting decision could affect several state laws on liquor and other permit provisions.

The case began when a request for an alcohol permit by Grendel's Den restaurant was nullified by the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Armenian Church. The parish took advantage of a long-standing Massachusetts law which allows churches and synagogues to veto such requests from establishments located within 500 feet.

Several restaurants within that distance serve alcohol--including Ahmed's and Pizzeria Uno's across the street--but the church has nullified only the attempt of Grendel's, which is less than 10 feet away.

Law professor Laurence H. Tribe '62, who will present the Kennedy St. restaurant's case before the high court Monday, said this week that he believes the law violates the separation of church and state by allowing the church to "have control over the lives of people in Harvard Square."

He added that, by issuing a selective veto, the church has unfairly hurt Grendel's business. Restaurant co-owner Sue E. Duelzer estimated yesterday that her business loses "10 or 11 customers a night," because it cannot serve alcohol.

A representative from the state attorney general's office, which is defending the parish, is expected to counter that religious institutions have the right to preserve a certain quality of life in their immediate surroundings.

Gerald Caruso, the lawyer handling the case, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The case has gone back and forth in several lower courts, with the federal First District Court ruling the law unconstitutional last year.

Tribe, who has headed the Grendel's effort since it first began, said that his half-hour presentation Monday will focus more on history than previous preparations. His presentation will cite early colonial American law, which he says "avoided giving such power to the church"

This is a perfect example of what the colonists tried to get away from in coming to the United States," he added.

The Supreme Court ruling, which may not be handed down for several months, could affect almost every state in the nation. If the court backs Grendel's with a broadly defined ruling that church-related liquor-free zones are unconstitutional, as many as 40 state laws would be swept away.

Even if the justice decide to support the restaurant's claims in a more narrow sense--ruling that a selective church veto illegal--laws in five states would be nullified.

Tribe has argued several cases before the Supreme Court before, including a landmark trial involving the right of the press and public to attend trials