Crazy Horse Ban Upheld -- Liquor Board Rules That Use Of Name Is Obscene, In Bad Taste

Crazy Horse Malt liquor will remain banned in Washington state, the Liquor Board decided today in a 2-0 vote.

The action came two weeks after board members heard Native Americans call the product's name racist, insensitive and insulting to the memory of the legendary Sioux warrior and spiritual leader.

Liquor Board members Mike Murphy and Jack Rabourn reaffirmed the ban enacted last year, basing their decision on Washington Administrative Code provisions that prohibit liquor promotion deemed to be undignified, obscene or in bad taste.

Murphy said testimony at the recent hearing "clearly illustrates that the use of the Crazy Horse name is undignified, that using the Crazy Horse name in connection with alcohol, which he abhorred and preached against, is obscene and is, to the general public, in bad taste."

Murphy also cited state rules against use of religious characters in liquor promotion and rules against misleading statements or illustration.

Use of the Crazy Horse name wrongly implies the brew was endorsed by the heirs or estate of the Indian leader, he said.

Crazy Horse Malt, marketed in 40 states, was created by the Hornell Brewing Co. of Brooklyn, N.Y.

At the recent hearing, a Hornell spokesman argued that the product was intended as a tribute to the Sioux figure, not an insult.

Hornell officials also cited a recent New York federal-court decision, which struck down a congressional ban on the "Crazy Horse" label.

The U.S. District Court ruled that the ban violated the brewer's First Amendment rights to free speech.

But Liquor Board members were advised by the state attorney general's office that the federal-court ruling did not preclude the state from using its administrative rules to ban the brew.