NCJ Number
162720
Date Published
1994
Length
282 pages
Annotation
Changes in Federal criminal legal doctrines from 1918 to 1933 are examined from the perspective of recent historical scholarship on prohibition and its impact on United States society.
Abstract
These Federal doctrinal developments are discussed as an important but ignored legacy of prohibition and continue to affect contemporary law. The discussion focuses on some of the United States Supreme Court's work before the New Deal, with emphasis on developments related to the defense of entrapment, the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure, the Fifth Amendment's prohibition against double jeopardy and property forfeitures, and the guarantee of a jury trial for criminal proceedings. The analysis reveals a court that was less rigid, less consistently divided along modern ideological lines, and more tolerant of government authority than has been commonly believed. By focusing on the relationship between the Eighteenth Amendment, the Volstead Act, and the development of Federal criminal law, the text explains the modern origins of legal doctrines that are still influential and provides a case study of how legal doctrine responds to changing social conditions. Chapter notes and index