The state Supreme Court will hear a lawsuit originally filed by two University of Wisconsin students over a six-month Madison ban on drink specials in 2002, the court announced Friday. The class-action lawsuit alleges 24 campus-area bars and the Dane County Tavern League engaged in an illegal conspiracy to restrain trade by voluntarily agreeing to limit drink specials on Friday and Saturday nights after 8 p.m. In an effort to curb excessive alcohol consumption downtown, Madison and university officials pressured the taverns in 2002 and threatened to pass price regulations. The taverns informally agreed to ban drink specials, fearing city regulation. Recommended by the city's Alcohol License Review Committee, proponents of the ban believed higher alcohol prices would deter binge-drinking. The ban was abandoned after six months with no signs of decreasing violence downtown. In 2004, then-UW law student Nic Eichenseer and UW junior Brian Dougherty filed the antitrust lawsuit with then-Janesville resident Eric Stener. Lommen, Nelson, Cole & Stageberg, a Minneapolis law firm representing the plaintiffs, filed a similar lawsuit in 2002 on charges of fixing alcohol prices. The plaintiffs and their attorneys did not return messages from The Badger Herald seeking comment. UW professor Peter Carstensen, who specializes in antitrust litigation, said the case addresses two main legal issues. These issues include whether or not the city has the authority through state statutes to set the prices of drinks and if an informal agreement with the city constitutes a sufficient action by the city. "It raises an important question about the scope of implied powers of local government to regulate," said Carstensen, who in the past has been charged with instigating the lawsuit. Carstensen said he had no connection with the litigation, apart from being a frequent commentator in media. "Basically, if any group of competitors gets together and reduces competition, that's illegal and can be a felony," Carstensen said. "[The taverns] were looking for a way … to avoid a city/campus policy of regulating the price of drinks." Ruling in favor of the Tavern League, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Angela Bartell said state statutes do grant cities the authority to control alcohol prices. "Call it what you will (implied repeal, home rule, state action), when a Wisconsin municipality acts out of public health and safety concerns in its regulation of alcohol sales, antitrust and anticompetitive policies are swept away by the fundamental and near-plenary nature of the governmental authority exercised," Bartell wrote in her opinion and the District 4 Court of Appeals restated. About one month after receiving a ruling in favor of the Tavern League from the appeals court, the plaintiffs filed with the state Supreme Court. Barb Mercer, owner of Pitcher's Pub on the Beltline and president of the Dane County Tavern League, refused comment Sunday evening. Representatives from LaFollette, Godfrey & Kahn, the law firm, which represents 21 of the 25 taverns involved, were unavailable for comment. "There's been a long and torturous history to this litigation," said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who opposed the ban on drink specials when it was proposed six years ago. Shortly after introducing the lawsuit, attorneys representing the plaintiffs said they might include city and university members, including Chancellor John Wiley, but they never acted on that threat. Verveer said the lawsuit is without merit and is "choking" many small business taverns through hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. "There's really no end in sight," Verveer said, since the plaintiffs have also filed a federal antitrust lawsuit including the city. The lawsuit was delayed by a federal judge until state courts have completed addressing the case. The Supreme Court case may not be completed for a year.