Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-03-21
TEXAS DAILY PRESS LEAGUE
Foreign Advertising Representatives
Federal and State Pro Laws

Senator Wesley Jones Of the state of Washington
Is the author Of what is known as the Jones law.
which received the signature of the late Calvin Cool
idge. Now the Jones law is the topic Of conversation
wherever men assemble. It provides that a federal
Judge may hand the violator of the eighteenth
amendment and the Vo1stead act a term Of five years
in the federal penitentiary and assess a fine Of
$4,000.
Texas has the Dean Law. It's author, former State
Senator w. L. Dean Of the county Of Walker and the
city Of Huntsville. A person convicted of violating
the Dean law is handed a term in the state peniten-
tiary. 1t is g maximum as well as minimum punish
ment. Senator Wesley I. Jones has won the place in
history that DR.. volstead won when the Volstead act
was named in his honor.
AS for W. L. Dean Of the county Of Walker. his
name has been a household word since the enactment
Of the law which bears his name. Now the Jones
law provides that the penalty for the violation of the
Volstead act shall be a fine not to exceed $4,000 or
imprisonment not to exceed five years-or both in
the discretion Of the federal Judge. provided that it
Is the intent Of congress that the court, in imposing
sentence hereunder should discriminate between cas-
ua1 or SLIGHT violations and habitual sales Of intoxi-
eating liquor or attempts to commercalize violations
of the law"
Furthermore, under the Wesley Jones law mini
mum penalties remain what they were before the
enactment of the Jones statute. Now the minimum
penalty for the first offense can be a fine Of 81 or
one day IN iail-that is. Wesley Jones left the mini
mum penalty where II is or was before he put over
the law that made his name a household word. The
plain English Of this is that the Wesley Jones law
makes no change whatever in minimum penalties.
Before the coming Of the Jones law the maximum
penalty enacted by congress was $1,000 and six
months for first offenders and $4,000 and five years
for second offenders. Under the Jones law the Judge
ais the thing" If he is q ferocious Judge he is priv
ileged to 90 the limit. If he has a heart, he will be
merciful in the imposition Of sentences. If a big
run1-runner goes up before him, it is the limit. If a
honae-brew maker is brought before him it is a dollar
or a suspended sentence.
A federal Judge is appointed for lfe-that is.
II his behavior on and off the bench does not call
for impeachment. He is the throne and the power
behind the throne in handing out justice. Wesley
Jones made him so. Lest we forget, the Forty-first
legislature revised or amended the Dean law in order
to make it fit in with the provisions of the Wesley
Jones act. AS written by Senator Dean and enacted
by a Texas legislature the minimum term for a con-
victed v~iolator of the law is a penitentiary sentence,
the maximum penalty is a penitentiary sentence. AS
amended by the lawmakers of the Forty-first legisla-
ture, it provides for minimum penalties-a jail SEN
telce or fine. or both in the discretion of the judge
and Jury and the limit for an incorrigible violator of
the pro laws.
This bill is on the table of the governor. 1t is a
Texas-Wesley Jones act. It tempers justice with
mercy for first offenders. Mrs. Mabel Willebrandt,
an assistant attorney general. is said to be response
BILE for the Wesley Jones act. 1t permits the federal
Judge to go all the way with the higher ups and those
who engage in the illicit traffic for profit purposes
This is one Of the reasons why the Lawmakers en-
acted a combination Wesley Jones-W. L. Dean-Mabel
Willebrandt act under the big dome Of the Texas
capitol while the Forty-first legislature was in regu-
lar session.