N. Dakota Lifts Ban On Liquor -- Good Friday Rule Was Last In Nation

BISMARCK, N.D. - North Dakota's last-in-the-nation ban on alcohol sales on Good Friday is being lifted, but the change didn't come easily.

Prompted by a federal judge's ruling, the Legislature repealed the ban last month. Senators first voted 26-23 to keep it, then decided by the same margin to lift it. Gov. Ed Schafer signed the repeal March 22.

"The Lord himself, at his Last Supper, drank wine with the 12 apostles. Thank goodness he didn't have that last supper on a Good Friday in North Dakota, or they might have all gone to jail for a year," Sen. Jim Maxson said during the debate.

North Dakota is the last state to prohibit bars from opening and restaurants and stores from selling alcohol on Good Friday, said Louise Bauer, policy associate for the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver.

Bar owner Bill Hixson filed the lawsuit that led U.S. District Judge Benny Graff to strike down the ban last year as a violation of the Constitution's separation of church and state. The state decided not to appeal the ruling.

"Had I known how emotional an issue it was going to be, I wouldn't have been the point man," Hixson said.

The repeal doesn't actually take effect until August, but the ban won't be enforced this week.

Bar owners in some small towns are resisting the change. In Linton, 70 miles south of Bismarck, five bar owners said they plan to stay closed tomorrow.

"In a small German community, it's probably important to stay closed on a religious holiday," said Fuzzy Feist.