The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1925-06-25
COURT UPHOLDS
VOLSTEAD LAW
Supreme Court Has Ruled
With Government on .
Nearly All Points.
SUPPORT ALL RULINGS

Washington, D. c. = G - The
ever-increasing army of violators of
federal laws who appeal to the United
States supreme court, contesting the
proprieties of lower court procedure
and the validity of the Volstead act,
the customs laws, the anti-narcotic
statute, and the laws prohibiting
transportation of women for immoral
purposes, stolen automobiles and
property in interstate commerce., get
short shrift in the high tribunal.
Hundreds of men appeal to the
court at every annual term, and the
result with very few exceptions, is
merely series of affirmations of the
constitutionality of the laws. The
men, after respite of few months,
find they must serve their terms in
prison.
These federal laws, which, incident
ally have been one Of the principal
causes of the tremendous crowding of
the courts docket, were so we'll con-
structed that practically no damage
has been done to them by the barrage
of attacks upon their constitutionality.
The attitude of the high court on
the engrossing subject of the prohi-
bition act was expressed the other day
by Chief Justice Taft, to an attorney
for man convicted under the nation
al prohibition law.
"This case involves q new question
of the Volstead law, upon which this
court has not ruled" the attorney de-
clared in asking that the case be adj
vanced for argument at the earliest
possible moment.
The chief justice smiled broadly,
and told the young attorney:
1T will be a novel case indeed, if
it does what you say"
Refuse Over 100 Appeals.
In the term of court starting last
November and ended this week, more
than 100 liquor law violators appealed
unsuccessfully to the court for reviews
of their cases. A bare half-dozen sue
ceeded in convincing the court their
cases were worth an argument.
Considerable attention, was attract
ed to the courts refusal to grant re-
views to more than dozen of the
81 men convicted in the Gary, Ind, Ii
Quor conspiracy case, in which the
mayor and other prominent officials
are now serving terms in Atlanta fed
eral prison.
Every angle of prohibition enforce
ment is attacked in the suits brought
before the court. Decisions affecting
policy of prohibition enforcement made
by the court this term included:
1. Approved the stopping and
searching ST automobiles for liquor
upon reasonable belief without war
rants.
2. Approved New Jersey law re-
curing procurement of license to
sell liquor, over the argument that the
Volstead act rendered void all licens-
ing acts.
8. Commended the tactics of Izzy
Einstein and Moe Smith, famous New
York liquor-sleuths, in conducting
raids, in the course of an opinion
validating conviction and seizure of
liquor made by them.
A. Denied review of the convic-
tion of a man whose person was
searched without a warrant for IL
quor.
5. Upheld the stronger than-Vol-
stead" Georgia state prohibition en-
forcement code, which forbids even the
possession of liquor in the home.
6. Denied two former prohibition
agents of their convictions for extor-
tion of money from an illicit liquor
seller.
In addition to these there were
many cases charging that the men
convicted had been deprived of their
constitutional rights, either by alleg-
eddy illegal search and seizure, inn
proper indictments, defects in court
procedure, but every one failed.
The older federal criminal laws, in
Guiding. those involving the uses of
the mail for fraud or sending obscene
matter, also are involved in a few
eases, but these appeals mostly are
based on alleged defects in the indict-
ment or court procedure.
One murder case appeal, that Of
Walter Ray Simmons, a Nebraska man,
was denied by the court last term.
Evidence that the court views the
Harrison law prohibiting sale or i'm
portation of drugs for illegal uses as
elastic was given in series of deci-
sions. In one, it was held that the
possession of opium is sufficient evil
dence for conviction, but in another a
physician was granted review of a
conviction, on the plea that his admin
istration of cocaine TO drug addict
was made in good faith