Abbate
Abbate v. United States
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Gilbert, J.
The plaintiff in error was convicted of violation of the Bone Dry Law of Alaska ( 39 Stat. 903 , c. 53 [ 48 U.S.C.A. § 261 et seq.]), in that he willfully and unlawfully had in his possession for sale intoxicating liquor, and he was sentenced to pay a fine of $800 and to be imprisoned three months in jail.
It is contended that the Bone Dry Law of Alaska has been repealed by the National Prohibition Act ( 27 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq.), the penalty for violation of which for a first offense, as here, is a fine of $500 without imprisonment. The National Prohibition Act provides: “All provisions of law that are inconsistent with this act are repealed only to the extent of such inconsistency and the regulations herein provided for the manufacture or traffic in intoxicating liquor shall be construed as an addition to existing laws.” 41 Stat. 317 ( 27 U.S.C.A. § 51 ). ‘
There can be no question that the act takes- the place of prior general statutes of the United States so far as they are inconsistent therewith. United States v. Sohm (D.C.) 265 F. 910 . But it does not follow that it repeals the express provisions of a local statute adopted expressly for Alaska. In legislating for a…
Dissenting Opinion
Ross, J.
(dissenting).
February 14, 1917, Congress passed an act, called in the record the Bone Dry Law ( 39 Stat. 903 , c. 53 [ 48 U.S.C.A. § 261 et seq.]), entitled “An act to prohibit the manufacture or sale of alcoholic liquors in the territory of Alaska, and for other purposes,” the first section of which declared, among other things, that on and after the 1st day of January, 1918, it should be “unlawful for any person, *44 house, association, firm, company, club, or corporation, his, its, or their agents, officers, clerks, or servants, to manufacture, sell, give, or otherwise dispose of any intoxicating liquor or alcohol of any kind in the territory of Alaska, or to have in his or its possession or to transport any intoxicating liquor or alcohol in the territory of Alaska unless the same was procured and is * * * possessed and transported” as therein specifically provided, which specific provisions are inapplicable to the present case.
Subsequently there was enacted by Congress, pursuant to the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, what is commonly known as the Volstead Act ( 41 Stat. 305 [ 27 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq.]), the title of which is as follows: “An act to prohibit…