In re Seizure of 7 Barrels of Wine

Citations

• 79 Fla. 1
• 83 So. 627
• 1920 Fla. LEXIS 620

Syllabus

<p>1. Where a commodity constituting property, not inherently dangerous to persons or to their fundamental rights, or injurious to the public welfare because of its mere possession, is lawfully possessed before and at the time of the adoption or enactment of laws forbidding its possession, and such continued possession is not'for an unlawful purpose or use and is not an incipient nuisance, and does not jeopardize the rights of others or the public welfare, and when a reasonable opportunity to lawfully dispose of the commodity before its seizure is not afforded, the enforcement of such laws, as against such previously acquired lawful possession, may deprive persons of property without due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Such enforcement may also violate property rights secured by the State Constitution.</p> <p>2. While the amendment to Article 19 of the State Constitution may, to conserve the general welfare, in effect qualify rights lawfully existing before the adoption of the amendment, it, does not purport to wholly destroy property rights in liquors and wines or other commodities that were lawfully acquired and possessed as property before the change in the organic law. The organic amendment and the statute enacted to enforce it, expressly provide for stated limited property rights in wines that may be lawfully acquired and held in possession.</p> <p>3. The provisions of the Federal and State Constitutions securing defined property rights against invasion by State authority, are limitations upon the law-making power of the Legislature as well as upon the powers of the other departments of the State government; and property not harmful in itself that is legally acquired as such by persons for lawful purposes, and not used, or designed to be used, for or in connection with, or in furtherance of, an unlawful act or purpose, cannot legally be destroyed by the authority of a statute that is enacted subsequent to the