Barbour v. Georgia

Background

A Georgia resident named Barbour was convicted for possessing more than one gallon of vinous liquor on June 10, 1916 under a state prohibition law approved November 18, 1915 that became effective May 1, 1916. Barbour argued the liquor had been acquired before the law took effect and that applying the law to him violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection of property. The Georgia Supreme Court rejected his claim and affirmed the sentence, and the case was brought to the United States Supreme Court for review.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the State could criminalize possession of liquor acquired after the law was enacted but before the law’s effective date. The Supreme Court accepted the Georgia court’s assumption that Barbour acquired the liquor during the gap between enactment and effectiveness. The Court explained that someone who acquires property after a statute declares it noxious does so with notice that possession will become a crime on a set future date. It ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment does not prevent a State from postponing a prohibition and later enforcing the ban against those who acquired the condemned property after enactment.

Real world impact

The decision allows states to set future-effective dates for bans and later criminally enforce possession against people who obtained prohibited items after a law was passed. The Court did not decide the separate question about property bought before a law was enacted because that point was not presented by the state courts. The judgment of the Georgia Supreme Court was affirmed.