Arizona State University students may be away for summer break, but the saga of one embattled college bar continues. City and state officials roundly denied accusations that they conspired to take down Tempe Tavern through two massive raids in 2025 that the bar has called “selective enforcement.”
It’s the city and state’s first response in federal court to a lawsuit brought by Tempe Tavern and its owner Robert Tasso in February. The suit claims that Tempe, its police department and state liquor license enforcement officers violated Tasso’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. How, exactly? Tempe Tavern’s lawsuit says the bar was singled out with raids targeting underage drinkers that drew local headlines and calls for the bar to lose its liquor license. The suit alleges statements by city and state officials have led to “reputational harm” to the bar, too.
The accused officials have maintained that they’re simply doing their jobs to keep young people safe and ensure bars are following the law. Over two years, about 80% of the people Tempe police arrested and cited for underage drinking and using fake IDs were at Tempe Tavern, a city statement noted in February. The city has called the bar’s lawsuit “absurd.”…