Commonwealth v. Vigliotti

Citations

• 271 Pa. 10
• 115 A. 20
• 1921 Pa. LEXIS 450

Syllabus

<p>Liquor laws — Constitution of United States — Eighteenth amendment — Volstead Act of Congress of Oct. 28,1919, and Penna. Statute of Mag 18, 1887, P. L. 108 — Statutes—Amendment of state laws — Police power.</p> <p>1. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and the Act of Congress of Oct. 28, 1919, do not annul the Pennsylvania Act of May 13, 1887, P. L. 108, popularly known as the Brooks Law, entitled “An act to restrain and regulate the sale of vinous and spirituous, malt or brewed liquors, or any admixtures thereof.”</p> <p>2. The Brooks Law of 1887, survives as Pennsylvania’s own police power method of officially listing and adequately controlling the customary sources of general supply and distribution, to the peoples within her borders, of those kinds of liquors among which intoxicating beverages are usually found, and she may thus assist in prohibiting their illegal use as such.</p> <p>3. The Statute, although not intended for that specific purpose, is adapted to serve as an instrument with which to perform, at least in part, Pennsylvania’s right and obligation to enforce, “by appropriate legislation,” the 18th Amendment.</p>