Background

Samuels v. McCurdy

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Samuels v. McCurdy, 267 U.S. 188 (1925), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the application of _ex post facto _ in the case where an object was legally purchased and possessed, but was then later banned by statute.

Background

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In 1917, Georgia's prohibition law became effective prior to federal prohibition with the Eighteenth Amendment . Sig Samuels legally purchased alcohol for personal use prior to the ban which the DeKalb County Sheriff seized with a valid search warrant after the law became effective. Samuels sued for a return of his property for violating his due process . He also claimed the law was being applied in an ex post facto fashion because consumption per se was not forbidden by Georgia's law.

Opinion of the Court

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The court found that ex post facto does not apply, because possession is an ongoing condition.

This law is not an ex post facto law. It does not provide a punishment for a past offense. It does not fix a penalty for the owner for having become possessed of the liquor. The penalty it imposes is for continuing to possess the liquor after the enactment of the law.

— Chief Justice Taft , writing for the court