This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

A presidential commission concluded that the lack of uniformity in the States' drinking ages created an incentive to drink and drive because young persons commute to border States where the drinking age is lower. Congress enacted 20 U.S.C. sec. 158, which directs the Secretary of Transportation to withhold 5% of the federal highway funds otherwise payable to states from any State which permits purchase or public possession of any alcoholic beverage by a person less than 21 years old. South Dakota, which permitted persons 19 years of age or older to purchase 3.2% beer, sought a declaratory judgment that sec. 158 violated constitutional limits on the congressional spending power and also violated the Twenty-First Amendment. Petitioner South Dakota permits persons 19 years of age or older to purchase beer containing up to 3.2% alcohol. The District Court rejected the State's claims, and the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed.

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