The Twenty-first Amendment (Amendment XXI) to the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

repealed the

Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the requisite number of ...

, which had mandated nationwide prohibition on alcohol. The Twenty-first Amendment was proposed by the 72nd Congress on February 20, 1933, and was ratified by the requisite number of states on December 5, 1933. It is unique among the 27 amendments of the U.S. Constitution for being the only one to repeal a prior amendment, as well as being the only amendment to have been ratified by

state ratifying conventions State ratifying conventions are one of the two methods established by Article V of the United States Constitution for '' ratifying'' proposed constitutional amendments. The only amendment that has been ratified through this method thus far is th ...

. The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919, the result of years of advocacy by the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

. The subsequent enactment of the

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...

established federal enforcement of the nationwide prohibition on alcohol. As many Americans continued to drink despite the amendment, Prohibition gave rise to a profitable

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

for alcohol, fueling the rise of

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

. Throughout the 1920s, Americans increasingly came to see Prohibition as unenforceable, and a movement to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment grew until the Twenty-first Amendment was ratified in 1933. Section 1 of the Twenty-first Amendment expressly repeals the Eighteenth Amendment. Section2 bans the importation of alcohol into states and territories that have laws prohibiting the importation or consumption of alcohol. Several states continued to be "

dry state A dry state was a state in the United States in which the manufacture, distribution, importation, and sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited or tightly restricted. Some states, such as North Dakota, entered the United States as dry states, and ...

s" in the years after the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, but in 1966 the last dry state (

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

) legalized the consumption of alcohol. Nonetheless, several states continue to closely regulate the distribution of alcohol. Many states delegate their power to ban the importation of alcohol to

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and municipalities, and there are numerous dry communities throughout the United States. Section2 has occasionally arisen as an issue in

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cases that touch on the

Commerce Clause The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...

Text

Background

The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution had ushered in a period known as Prohibition, during which the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal. The enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919 was the crowning achievement of the

, but it soon proved highly unpopular. Crime rates soared under Prohibition as gangsters, such as Chicago's

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

, became rich from a profitable, often violent,

for alcohol. The federal government was incapable of stemming the tide: enforcement of the

proved to be a nearly impossible task and corruption was rife among law enforcement agencies. In 1932, wealthy industrialist

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in ...

stated in a letter: As more and more Americans opposed the Eighteenth Amendment, a political movement grew for its repeal. However, repeal was complicated by

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. Although the U.S. Constitution provides two methods for ratifying constitutional amendments, only one method had been used up until that time: ratification by the state legislatures of three-fourths of the states. However, the wisdom of the day was that the lawmakers of many states were either beholden to or simply fearful of the temperance lobby.

Proposal and ratification

The Congress adopted the

Blaine Act The Blaine Act, formally titled Joint Resolution Proposing the Twenty-First Amendment to the United States Constitution, is a joint resolution adopted by the United States Congress on February 20, 1933, initiating repeal of the 18th Amendment to ...

and proposed the Twenty-first Amendment on February 20, 1933. The proposed amendment was adopted on December 5, 1933. It is the only amendment to have been ratified by

, specifically selected for the purpose. All other amendments have been ratified by state legislatures. It is also the only amendment that was approved for the explicit purpose of repealing a previously existing amendment to the Constitution. The Twenty-first Amendment ending national prohibition also became effective on December 5, 1933. The Acting Secretary of State

William Phillips William Phillips may refer to: Entertainment * William Phillips (editor) (1907–2002), American editor and co-founder of ''Partisan Review'' * William T. Phillips (1863–1937), American author * William Phillips (director), Canadian film-make ...

certified the amendment as having been passed by the required three-fourths of the states just 17 minutes after the passage of the amendment by the Utah convention. President Roosevelt then issued a proclamation following the passage and certification of the amendment which stated in part the following: "I trust in the good sense of the American people that they will not bring upon themselves the curse of excessive use of intoxicating liquors to the detriment of health, morals and social integrity. The objective we seek through a national policy is the education of every citizen towards a greater temperance throughout the nation." The end of prohibition was thought to be responsible for the creation of a half million jobs. The various responses of the 48 states is as follows: The following states ratified the amendment: # Michigan: April 10, 1933 (99–1) # Wisconsin: April 25, 1933 (15–0) # Rhode Island: May 8, 1933 (31–0) # Wyoming: May 25, 1933 (65–0) # New Jersey: June 1, 1933 (202–2) # Delaware: June 24, 1933 (17–0)Delaware Repeal Convention Acts Against Dry Law
. ''The News Journal'' (Wilmington, Delaware). June 24, 1933. p. 1, 20). # Indiana: June 26, 1933 (246–83) # Massachusetts: June 26, 1933 (45–0) # New York: June 27, 1933 (150–0) # Illinois: July 10, 1933 (50–0) # Iowa: July 10, 1933 (90–0)Iowa Formally Ratifies Dry Law Repeal
. ''Associated Press''. Sioux City Journal (Sioux City, Iowa). July 11, 1933. p. 1, 2. # Connecticut: July 11, 1933 (50–0) # New Hampshire: July 11, 1933 # California: July 24, 1933 # West Virginia: July 25, 1933 # Arkansas: August 1, 1933 # Oregon: August 7, 1933 # Alabama: August 8, 1933 # Tennessee: August 11, 1933 # Missouri: August 29, 1933 # Arizona: September 5, 1933 # Nevada: September 5, 1933 # Vermont: September 23, 1933 # Colorado: September 26, 1933 # Washington: October 3, 1933 # Minnesota: October 10, 1933 # Idaho: October 17, 1933 # Maryland: October 18, 1933 # Virginia: October 25, 1933 # New Mexico: November 2, 1933 # Florida: November 14, 1933 # Texas: November 24, 1933 # Kentucky: November 27, 1933 # Ohio: December 5, 1933 # Pennsylvania: December 5, 1933 # Utah: December 5, 1933 (20–0)Utah Vote Ends Prohibition Era: State's Decisive Ballot Flashed to Nation, 3:32 p. m.
''The Salt Lake Tribune''. December 6, 1933. p. 1, 6, 15. The amendment was officially added to the U.S. Constitution on December 5, 1933, when Utah's state convention unanimously ratified the amendment. The amendment was subsequently ratified by conventions in the following states: The amendment was unanimously rejected by South Carolina's state convention on December 4, 1933. On November 7, 1933, North Carolina held a vote, and approximately 70% of its voters rejected holding a convention to consider the amendment. The following states took no action to consider the amendment: * Georgia * Kansas * Louisiana * Mississippi * Nebraska * North Dakota * Oklahoma * South Dakota

Implementation

State and local control

The second section bans the importation of alcohol in violation of state or territorial law. This has been interpreted to give states essentially absolute control over

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

s, and many

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s still remained " dry" (with state prohibition of alcohol) long after its ratification.

was the last state to remain entirely dry. In August 1966, 19 of Mississippi's counties voted to legalize alcohol.Pike, 3 Others to Remain 'Dry': 19 Counties Vote for Legal Liquor
. ''Associated Press''. Enterprise-Journal (McComb, Mississippi). August 3, 1966. p. 1. Kansas continued to prohibit public bars until 1987. Many states now delegate the authority over alcohol granted to them by this Amendment to their

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

(or both).

Court rulings

Section 2 has been the source of every

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directly addressing Twenty-first Amendment issues. Early rulings suggested that Section2 enabled states to legislate with exceptionally broad constitutional powers. In ''State Board of Equalization v. Young's Market Co.'', the Supreme Court recognized that "Prior to the Twenty-first Amendment it would obviously have been unconstitutional" for a state to require a license and fee to import beer anywhere within its borders. First, the Court held that Section2 abrogated the right to import intoxicating liquors free of a direct burden on interstate commerce, which otherwise would have been unconstitutional under the

before passage of the Twenty-first Amendment.''State Board of Equalization v. Young's Market Co.'', 299 U.S. at 64. In its second holding, the Court rejected an equal protection claim because "A classification recognized by the Twenty-first Amendment cannot be deemed forbidden by the Fourteenth." Over time, the Court has significantly curtailed this initial interpretation. In ''

Craig v. Boren ''Craig v. Boren'', 429 U.S. 190 (1976), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the US Supreme Court ruling that statutory or administrative sex classifications were subject to intermediate scrutiny under ...

'' (1976), the Supreme Court found that analysis under the

Equal Protection Clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...

of the Fourteenth Amendment had not been affected by the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment. Although the Court did not specify whether the Twenty-first Amendment could provide an exception to any other constitutional protections outside of the

, it acknowledged "the relevance of the Twenty-first Amendment to other constitutional provisions becomes increasingly doubtful". Likewise, it has been held that Section2 of the Twenty-first Amendment does not affect the

Supremacy Clause The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States ( Article VI, Clause 2) establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme Law of the Land", and thu ...

or the

Establishment Clause In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...

. '' Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc.'', 459 U.S. 116, 122, n. 5 (1982). However, the ''

'' Court did distinguish two characteristics of state laws permitted by the Amendment, which otherwise might have run afoul of the Constitution. The constitutional issues in each centered or touched upon:(1) "''importation of intoxicants'', a regulatory area where the State's authority under the Twenty-first Amendment is transparently clear"; and (2) "''purely economic matters'' that traditionally merit only the mildest review under the Fourteenth Amendment". As to the

Dormant Commerce Clause The Dormant Commerce Clause, or Negative Commerce Clause, in American constitutional law, is a legal doctrine that courts in the United States have inferred from the Commerce Clause in Article I of the US Constitution. The primary focus of the d ...

in particular, the Court clarified that, while not a '' pro tanto'' repeal, the Twenty-First Amendment nonetheless "primarily created an exception to the normal operation of the

". In ''

South Dakota v. Dole ''South Dakota v. Dole'', 483 U.S. 203 (1987), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court considered the limitations that the Constitution places on the authority of the United States Congress when Congress uses its authority to influence ...

'' (1987), the Supreme Court upheld the withholding of some federal highway funds to

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, because beer with an alcohol content below a specified percentage could be lawfully sold to adults under the age of 21 within the state. In a 7–2 majority opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist, the Court held that the offer of benefits is not coercion that inappropriately invades

state sovereignty Westphalian sovereignty, or state sovereignty, is a principle in international law that each state has exclusive sovereignty over its territory. The principle underlies the modern international system of sovereign states and is enshrined in the Un ...

. The Twenty-first Amendment could not constitute an "independent constitutional bar" to the spending power granted to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

under Article I, section 8, clause 1 of the Constitution. Justice Brennan, author of the majority opinion in ''

'', provided a brief but notable dissent based solely on Section 2. Justice O'Connor also dissented, arguing that "the regulation of the age of the purchasers of liquor, just as the regulation of the price at which liquor may be sold, falls squarely within the scope of those powers reserved to the States by the Twenty-first Amendment." In '' 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island'' (1996), the Court held states cannot use the Twenty-first Amendment to abridge freedom of speech protections under the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

imposed a law that prohibited advertisements disclosing the retail prices of alcoholic beverages sold to the public. In declaring the law unconstitutional, the Court reiterated that "although the Twenty-first Amendment limits the effect of the

on a State's regulatory power over the delivery or use of intoxicating beverages within its borders, the Amendment does not license the States to ignore their obligations under other provisions of the Constitution". Most recently, however, '' Granholm v. Heald'' (2005) held that the Twenty-first Amendment does not overrule the

with respect to alcohol sales, and therefore states must treat in-state and out-of-state wineries equally. The Court criticized its earliest rulings on the issue, (including ''State Board of Equalization v. Young's Market Co.'') and promulgated its most limited interpretation to date: In a lengthy dissent, Justice Thomas argued that the plain meaning of Section2 removed "any doubt regarding its broad scope, the Amendment simplified the language of the Webb-Kenyon Act and made it clear that States could regulate importation destined for in-state delivery free of negative Commerce Clause restraints".''Granholm'', 544 U.S. at 514 (Thomas, J., dissenting). In his historical account, Justice Thomas argued the early precedent provided by ''State Board of Equalization v. Young's Market Co.'' was indeed correct, and furthered the

original intent Original intent is a theory in law concerning constitutional and statutory interpretation. It is frequently used as a synonym for originalism; while original intent is indeed one theory in the originalist family, it has some salient differenc ...

of the Twenty-first Amendment to provide a constitutional guarantee authorizing state regulation that might conflict with the

(similar to the

Webb–Kenyon Act The Webb–Kenyon Act was a 1913 law of the United States that regulated the interstate transport of alcoholic beverages. It was meant to provide federal support for the prohibition efforts of individual states in the face of charges that state reg ...

Notes

References

External links

CRS Annotated Constitution: Twenty first Amendment
{{DEFAULTSORT:21 Darrell Dugas Jr. Amendments to the United States Constitution Prohibition in the United States History of drug control Alcohol law in the United States 1933 in American politics 73rd United States Congress