The Increased Penalties Act was a bill that increased the penalties for violating prohibition. Enacted on March 2, 1929, it is also called the "Jones–Stalker Act" or the "Jones Act". The legislation was sponsored by two Republicans, Sen.

Wesley L. Jones Wesley Livsey Jones (October 9, 1863November 19, 1932) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate representing the state of Washington. Born near Bethany, Illinois days aft ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and Rep.

Gale H. Stalker Gale Hamilton Stalker (November 7, 1889 – November 4, 1985) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. Early life and education Gale H. Stalker was born in Long Eddy in Sullivan County, New York on No ...

of upstate

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. It stipulated that wherever any penalty was prescribed for the illegal manufacture, sale, transportation, importation, or exportation of intoxicating liquor as defined in 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 ...

of 1919, the penalty imposed for each such offense should be a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed five years, or both. The Act did not repeal any minimum penalties then prescribed by law. It further declared that it was the intent of

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 ...

that the courts, in sentencing offenders, "should discriminate between casual or slight violations and habitual sales of intoxicating liquor, or attempts to commercialize violations of the law." Its purpose, as explained by Sen. Jones, was to stiffen the penalties against those convicted of violating Prohibition for commercial purposes. In particular, the Act increased the penalties for importing, transporting, and exporting liquor, to match the existing penalties for manufacturing and selling it. All five of these activities were expressly forbidden by the 18th Amendment, but the

did not penalize importation or transportation as heavily as manufacture or sale. The bill passed the Senate on February 19, 1929, by a vote of 65 to 18. On February 28 the House passed it by a vote of 284 to 90 (also reported as 283 to 90). President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

signed the legislation on March 2, 1929. The Jones Law affects primarily the punishment provision of the Volstead Law, and might as a matter of technique have been made an amendment thereof. Its legal consequences are very considerable, since it materially changes the substantive nature of liquor law violations, and the procedural problems of those charged with punishment thereof. Its influence will even be felt in the state courts. Finally, it vests in the judges of the federal courts a wide and very important discretion. The Jones Law does not alone increase maximum penalties, it makes an important change in the classification. A judge sentencing a violator of the Volstead Act is now faced with the following admonition:

Notes

{{cite news , newspaper=New York Times , title=Coolidge Signs Bill for Stiff Dry Penalties , date=1929-03-03 , page=3 , url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/03/03/archives/coolidge-signs-bill-for-stiff-dry-penalties-two-are-arrested-at.html , accessdate=2011-06-24 Prohibition in the United States 70th United States Congress United States federal criminal legislation 1929 in American law