The Eighteenth Amendment
The Eighteenth Amendment was a constitutional provision that facilitated the provision. The amendment was to the effect of prohibiting the production, transportation and sale of alcohol in the United States of America. It was legislated by Congress on behalf of the citizenry. The spirit of the amendment lied in the need to remedy and save the American society which was being adversely affected by alcoholism. It is instructive to note that the amendment did not expressly ban alcohol consumption. However, the amendment banned the production, transportation and sale thereby making dealing and access alcohol impossible. As Rockefeller would note in his letter on the prohibition, the intention of the amendment was to act on by reducing cases of alcoholism. As such, it was expected that the amendment would receive public acclaim, acceptance and support. In fact, the proposers behind the act were from the temperance movement. This is a movement of people who are anti-consumption of alcohol. It was their desire to remedy the situation in the United States of America.
In Congress, the prohibition debate received the support of the majority of Congress especially the Democrats. Congress believed the prohibition would see to it that the American society would become sober. It was their undying desire to see America wake up from the ravages of alcoholism. Temperance movement members had convinced Congress that this was important and necessary. The amendment in the Senate was not only through the actual constitutional amendment. It was accompanied by a substantive legislation which was intended for the actualization of the prohibition. This Act was called the National Prohibition Act, 1920. It was also referred to as the Volstead Act. It was this Act that specifically provided for mechanisms to deal with the prohibition. It gave the regulations and the manner in which the federal and state governments were to implement the amendment. It needs to be noted that the Volstead Act and the Eighteenth Amendment was drafted and introduced to Senate by the then Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Andrew J. Volstead. Volstead had been an active and aggressive rights activist. He believed in the temperance approach and saw prohibition as the solution to the alcoholism problem in America. He submitted that Congress had to remedy and help the society by legislating on critical issues of concern. However, unfortunately, the amendment did not receive national support. Instead, the citizenry of Minnesota even failed to vote back Volstead in the next elections proving how unpopular his amendment was.
The Eighteenth Amendment was equally interesting because it provided for a deadline for ratification by the states. This was the first amendment that was accompanied by a deadline for ratification by states. It is instructive to note that out of the 48 states of the Union then, 36 of them ratified the amendment and on the 29th January the ratification was certified by the then acting secretary of State Frank L. Polk. However, this only came after much drama that even took a legal character. The deadline for ratification set by Congress had been challenged and opposed by some quarters within the United States of America. This challenge was put to an end when the United States of America Supreme Court upheld that the deadline set was constitutional and that Congress had acted within the provisions and limits of the law. This was arrived at in the holding of Dillon v Gloss, 1921. In addition, it is important to note that the Amendment was rejected by Connecticut and Rhode Island. The two states, therefore, failed to implement and or support the amendment. Another form of opposition came from the Presidency. President Woodrow Wilson declined to give the presidential assent to the National Prohibition Act. He vetoed the bill on grounds that it was insufficient in its attempts to cut down on alcoholism in the United States of America. Perhaps the presidency was well informed of the likely implementation challenges and did not want the citizens’ case worsened by illegalizing alcoholism as such. However, it is instructive to note the House of Representatives would override the veto and vote the bill on the same day the presidential assent was denied and the Senate would on the next day similarly vote for the bill. The Volstead Act thus became law in 1920. Just as the Eighteenth Amendment had set, the Volstead Act also provided for January 17th 1920 as the initial start date of the prohibition in the entire United States of America.
Impact of the Amendment: Occurrences between 1919 and 1933
The Eighteenth Amendment had banned the production, transportation and sale of alcoholic products. In other words, the amendment and the Act essentially banned dealing in and consumption of alcohol. Congress had expected public support for the move to ban alcohol consumption as this would reduce the adverse effects it has on society. However, this was not the case. Instead, the ban saw changes in the system and the society that was only detrimental in the long run. The public sent a message to Congress through overt and covert acts that the amendment and the Act was not in their interests and consequently received no support.
For starters, the act and the amendment faced legal challenges. A lot of petitions were filed in the courts challenging the constitutionality of the Amendment and the Act. Most of the petitioners were of the view that the Act was illegal and inconsistent with other provisions of the constitution. They cited the Fourth and Fifth Amendments as constitutional provisions that had been subverted. The Fourth and Fifth Amendment are parts of the Bills of Rights and provide substantive guidelines for prosecution. It was the submission of the petitioners that the Volstead Act was an affront to the constitutional expectation of legal searches and seizures as provided for under the Fourth Amendment and the requirement that government must not abuse its authority in the prosecution of its citizens. Other legal issues include the constitutionality challenge as seen in Dillon v Gloss. By and large the legal challenges were withered through without much opposition and impediments.
It was the social, political and economic challenges that were immense as seen between the years 1919 to 1933. Foremost, the alcohol industry was thriving at the time of prohibition. Several individuals earn their living from proceeds received in the production, transportation and sale of alcohol and related products. This group was knocked down by the prohibition. While it was expected that they resort for other engagements, most of them pursued the illegal option. In that context, illegal market for alcohol began. The business was run through the black market with illegal gangs of organized crimes taking over most of the control of this market. This led to an escalating level of crimes as the gangs did not stop at alcohol facilitation only. The concept of legitimate and legal governance faded as the illegal gangs took control of some areas of operations. In addition, the fact that the business was done illegally and without the watchful eyes of the regulators occasioned unhealthy and substandard production. This would only go towards affecting the final consumers of the products. These consumers were American citizens who needed the protection and services of the government.
The prohibition also led to a spate of citizen criminality. This is to say that citizens became too unconcerned about the rule of law and opted to participate in illegal consumption, production, transportation and sale of alcohol. This is occasioned an increased pressure of the criminal justice system. The number of courts cases arose and the judiciary was unable to handle the huge number of criminals set for prosecution. The prisons were staffed with offenders. This compromised the quality and degree of services in the criminal justice departments such as the judiciary, the prisons and the law enforcement officers through police departments. The challenge was so enormous that some of the officer resorted to corruption.
Politically, the amendment di not augur well with the citizenry. Some of the legislators who had aggressively canvassed for the change did not see the floor of the House again after the elections. For example Andrew Volstead lost the re-election vote. The general mode of the public was anti- prohibition and America had to act to contain the opposition to its own laws by its own citizens. Once the pressure became too much, Congress took action though the twenty First Amendment.
Twenty First Amendment
The Twenty First Amendment was the reaction by Congress to remedy the American system from the effects of the Eighteenth Amendment. It had become evident that the Eighteenth Amendment was impractical and there was therefore need to change the amendment so as to enable consonance in the operation of the laws. It is instructive to note that the Twenty First Amendment remains special for two primary reasons. Foremost, it is the only amendment that expressly repeals another amendment. By and large, the twenty first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment after fourteen years of life. Secondly, the Amendment was ratified by the states through ratifying conventions rather that the ordinary legislatures. The Amendment consequently occupies a central place in the American history and suffices as a good illustration of the reality of the law and the need for the law to be current. The Amendment serves to show the need for legislations to be based on current trends and dictates of society and that a cost benefit analysis be performed before legislation. In addition, the Amendment shows the non-permanency of the law and the fact that despite the law being the law as is often argued in legalism, the law must be of help to man and not man for the law.
The wording of the Amendment is in three sections. Section one expressly repeals the Eighteenth Amendment. Section two then goes ahead to distinguish facts by stating the intoxicating liquor remain prohibited as transportation and or importation of such intoxicating liquor is prohibited. Section three of the Amendment cups it all by providing that the operation of the Amendment is dependent on the ratification by the states within seven years from the date of submission.
The proposed amendment was adopted into law by Congress on the 5th December 1933 and became effective on 15th December 1933. The amendment received full ratification by the 36 states by December 5th. It should be noted that it reversed the substantive effects of the Eighteenth Amendment. The amendment among other things effectively allowed for the legal dealing in alcohol and related products through production, transportation and sale. It should be expounded and appreciated for it is on that premise that the brewery industry has developed. The illegal production and management by illegal gangs has since ended with the latter opting to engage in production of illegal products such as drugs and substances. In addition, the Amendment provided an opportunity for regulators to inspect and regulate the production of alcoholic products hence enable the protection of the citizenry. It ought to be appreciated that the law has now been more realistic and practical through the introduced amendment. For instance, the criminal justice system is now less inconvenienced by petty crimes such as the previously prohibited indulging in alcohol production, transportation and or sale. The courts have more time to deal with more important issues and see to it that crime levels are reduced.
In overall, the amendment is a score on the citizenry. It indicates that the law is for man and not man for the law. It equally shows that it is often about the citizen. In many cases, laws always appear in favour of the elite against the common man. In this case, the law was in favour of the citizenry for it was the citizens who supported the consumption of alcohol against the elitist approach against consumption of the same. The letter of Rockefeller in admitting the failure of the law to enable citizenry awareness of the evil effects of alcoholism betrays the internal desires of the elites. In the long run, it shows the challenge attendant to the legal system. Over and above that, the Twenty First Amendment remedied the effects of the Eighteenth Amendment and proved that for the American political and legal system, the law is not cast in stone. This is the spirit that continues to guide the American system. Even to date the laws must be brought into currency through substantive amendments and statutes. Another development occasioned by the Amendment is the increased public participation in the political structure. The public is no longer important only for elections. The citizens’ participation is incorporated and their demands must be accommodated. A good example is the healthcare law which equally split the United States of America down the middle. It has been criticized as being impractical and exploitative of the masses. It has even faced legal challenges and continues to face implementation challenges. Fourteen years down the line, it would be important to revisit the American legal systems and ascertain if the healthcare law has survived the onslaught. As it stands, just like the Eighteenth Amendment, it seems to have received full support by Congress, the Executive and the Judiciary. In the long run, the amendments best show the power of the people to set their own destinations through Congress.
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