Facts of the Case
This is an appeal from an order denying a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Ex parte Dillon, 262 F. 563. The petitioner was in custody under § 26 of Title II of the National Prohibition Act, c. 85, 41 Stat. 305, on a charge of transporting intoxicating liquor in violation of § 3 of that title, and by his petition sought to be discharged on several grounds, all but two of which were abandoned after the decision in National Prohibition Cases, 253 U. S. 350 . The remaining grounds are, first, that the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, to enforce which Title II of the act was adopted, is invalid, because the congressional resolution, 40 Stat. 1050, proposing the amendment declared that it should be inoperative unless ratified within seven years; and, secondly, that, in any event, the provisions of the act which the petitioner was charged with violating, and under which he was arrested, had not gone into effect at the time of the asserted violation nor at the time of the arrest.
Conclusions
-
1. Article V of the Constitution implies that amendments submitted thereunder must be ratified, if at all, within some reasonable time after their proposal. Pp. 256 U. S. 371 , 256 U. S. 374 .
Counting to Two Thirds: How Close Are We to a Convention for Proposing Amendments to the Constitution?
Federalist Society Review, Volume 19
Note from the Editor: This article argues that, in aggregating applications from states to call...
