Source: http://www.chanrobles.com/usa/us_supremecourt/256/450/case.php
Timestamp: 2019-10-23 23:18:08
Document Index: 420636031

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 35', '§ 3281', '§ 3282', '§ 3', '§ 3257', '§ 35', '§ 3257', '§ 35', '§ 35']

UNITED STATES V. YUGINOVICH, 256 U. S. 450 (1921) - US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
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UNITED STATES V. YUGINOVICH, 256 U. S. 450 (1921)
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United States v. Yuginovich, 256 U.S. 450 (1921)
1. Congress, under the taxing power, may tax intoxicating liquor notwithstanding their production is prohibited, and the fact that it does so for a moral end as well as to raise revenue is not a constitutional objection. P. 256 U. S. 462.
2. Section 3257 of the Revised Statutes, which, for the purpose of protecting the revenues, made it an offense for a distiller to defraud, or attempt to defraud, the United States of a tax on the spirits distilled by him, and penalized the offense by forfeiture of the distillery, etc., and heavy fine and imprisonment, was superseded as respects persons manufacturing spirits for beverage purposes, by § 35, Title II, of the National Prohibition Law, which imposes a double tax and an additional penalty of $500 or $1,000 only, thus covering practically the same acts and inflicting a lighter penalty. P. 256 U. S. 463.
3. The repealing effect of this section of the later act is determined in full recognition of its declaration that the act shall not "relieve any person from any liability, civil or criminal, heretofore or hereafter incurred under existing laws," but in the light also of settled principles governing the construction of penal statutes, the Eighteenth Amendment, and the provisions of the act itself making unlawful the possession of intoxicating liquors, or property designed for the manufacture thereof, and providing for their destruction. P. 256 U. S. 463.
4. Section 3279 of the Revised Statutes, requiring distillers of spirits to exhibit a sign "Registered Distillery" and punishing violations by fine, § 3281, making it an offense, punishable by fine and imprisonment, to carry on the business of a distiller without giving bond, and § 3282, punishing in like manner the making of mash in any building other than a distillery authorized by law, were also superseded by the National Prohibition Law, insofar as concerns the production of intoxicating liquor for beverage purposes. P. 256 U. S. 464.
266 F.7d 6 affirmed. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Error to review a judgment of the district court sustaining a motion to quash, and a demurrer to, an indictment. The facts are stated in the opinion, post, 256 U. S. 457. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
This case is here under the Criminal Appeals Act. 34 Stat. 1246. The indictment is in four counts. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The defendants interposed a motion to quash the indictment upon the grounds that the acts of Congress under which the same was found were repealed before the finding of the indictment, and that the acts charged to have been committed by them were after the date upon which the Eighteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution and the Volstead Act became effective. Defendants also filed a demurrer to the indictment on practically the same grounds. The motion to quash and the demurrer were sustained by the district court. 266 F.7d 6.
The sections of the Revised Statutes may be summarized as follows: Section 3257 makes it an offense to defraud or attempt to defraud the United States of a tax chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
These statutes have long been part of the federal internal revenue legislation, and were passed under the authority of the taxing power conferred upon Congress by the Constitution of the United States. At the time of their enactment, it was legal, so far as the federal government was concerned, to manufacture and sell ardent spirits for beverage purposes. The government derived large revenue from taxing the business, which it sought to realize and protect by the system of laws of which the sections in question were a part. This policy was radically changed by the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution, and the enactment of legislation to make the amendment effective. The Eighteenth Amendment, in comprehensive and clear language, prohibits the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors in the United States for chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Before taking up the sections of the Revised Statutes, some provisions of the Volstead Act may be appropriately referred to. Section 3, Title II, provides that, after the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States goes into effect, it shall be illegal to manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor except as authorized in the act. Liquor for nonbeverage purposes and wine for sacramental purposes may be manufactured, purchased, sold, bartered, transported, imported, exported, delivered, furnished and possessed, but only as in the act provided, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may issue permits therefor. The act contains many provisions to make effective the purposes declared in § 3. Section 25 makes it unlawful to have or possess any liquor or property designed for the manufacture of liquor intended for use in violation of the act or which has been so used, and provides that no property rights shall exist in any such liquor or property. The same section provides for the issue of search warrants, and if it is found that any liquor or property be unlawfully held or possessed, or had been unlawfully used, the liquor and all property designed for the unlawful manufacture of liquor shall be destroyed unless the court otherwise orders. Section 29 provides that any person who manufactures or sells liquor in violation of Title II of the act shall for a first offense be fined not less than $1,000, or be imprisoned not exceeding six months, and for a second or subsequent offense shall be fined chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
It is well settled that, in cases of this character, the construction or sufficiency of the indictment is not brought before us. United States v. Keitel, 211 U. S. 370; United States v. Stevenson, 215 U. S. 190. For the purpose of interpreting the statute, we adopt the meaning placed upon the indictment by the court below. United States v. Colgate & Co., 250 U. S. 300. As that court evidently construed the statutes upon the assumption that the charges had relation to intoxicating liquors intended for beverage purposes, we shall follow that view of the indictment in determining whether the former statutes are still in force.
Section 35, * in its first sentence, repeals chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
That Congress may, under the broad authority of the taxing power, tax intoxicating liquors notwithstanding their production is prohibited and punished we have no question. The fact that the statute in this aspect had a moral end in view as well as the raising of revenue presents no valid constitutional objection to its enactment. 72 U. S. 471; In re Kollock, 165 U. S. 526, 165 U. S. 536; United States v. Jin Fuey Moy, 241 U. S. 394; United States v. Doremus,@ 249 U. S. 86. The question remains concerning the applicability of § 3257, involving the right to punish for attempting to defraud the United States of a tax -- did Congress intend to punish such violation of law by imposing the old penalty denounced chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Having in mind these principles and considering now the first count of the indictment charging an attempt to defraud and actually defrauding the government of the revenue tax, we do not believe that the general language used at the close of § 35 evidences the intention of Congress to inflict for such an offense the punishment provided in § 3257, with the resulting forfeiture, fine, and imprisonment, and at the same time to authorize prosecution and punishment under § 35 enacting lesser and special penalties for failing to pay such taxes by imposing a tax in double the amount provided by law, with an additional penalty of $500 on retailers and $1,000 on manufacturers. Moreover, the concluding words of the first paragraph of § 35, as to all the offenses charged, must chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
This section has given rise to different constructions in the federal courts; in some, it has been held that the National Prohibition Act has repealed the old revenue laws. United States v. Windam, 264 F.3d 6; United States v. Pughac, 268 F.3d 2; United States v. Stafoff, 268 F.4d 7; Reed v. Thurmond, 269 F.2d 2. Contra, United States v. Sohm, 265 F.9d 0; United States v. Turner, 266 F.2d 9; United States v. Sacein Rouhana Farhat, 269 F. 33.