In Re Jackson

The petitioner was convicted of the offense of unlawful possession of intoxicating liquor after a prior conviction of a similar offense, and on September 6, 1927, was sentenced to imprisonment in the city jail for a term of six months and was fined the sum of $500, with the provision that in default of payment of the fine petitioner should be further imprisoned in the city jail at the rate of one day for every five dollars of the fine. The petitioner has been confined since the sixth day of September, 1927, to at least February 14, 1928, when at the oral argument an order was made that petitioner might be released upon giving bail in the sum of $100. The National Prohibition Act, ordinarily called the Volstead Act, in title II, section 29 (27 U. S. C. A., sec. 46) provides the penalties for the offense of which petitioner was convicted as follows: “Any person . . . who . . . violates any of the provisions of this chapter . . . shall be fined . . . for a second offense not less than $100.00 nor more than $1,000.00 or by imprisonment not more than ninety days; . . . ”

It is of course obvious that the sentence of imprisonment imposed upon the petitioner is in excess of that provided…