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The National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (also known unofficially as the Wickersham Commission) was a committee established by the U.S. President, Herbert Hoover, on May 20, 1929. Former attorney general
George W. Wickersham George Woodward Wickersham (September 19, 1858 – January 25, 1936) was an American lawyer and Attorney General of the United States in the administration of President William H. Taft. He returned to government to serve in appointed positio ...
(1858–1936) chaired the 11-member group, which was charged with surveying the U.S. criminal justice system under Prohibition and making recommendations for public policy. During the 1928 presidential campaign Herbert Hoover supported the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (which had introduced nationwide alcohol prohibition) but he recognized that evasion of the law was widespread and that prohibition had fueled the growth of organized crime.


Membership

Commission members included Henry W. Anderson,
Newton D. Baker Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist,Noble, Ransom E. "Henry George and the Progressive Movement." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 8, no. 3, 1949, pp. 259–269. w ...
,
Ada Comstock Ada Louise Comstock (December 11, 1876 – December 12, 1973) was an American women's education pioneer. She served as the first dean of women at the University of Minnesota and later as the first full-time president of Radcliffe College. Early ...
, William Irwin Grubb, William S. Kenyon, Monte M. Lemann,
Frank J. Loesch Frank Joseph Loesch (April 9, 1852 – July 31, 1944) was a prominent Chicago attorney, reformer and a founder of the Chicago Crime Commission, which attempted to combat widespread corruption and organized crime related violence. Biography Loesch ...
, Kenneth Mackintosh, Paul John McCormick, and Dean
Roscoe Pound Nathan Roscoe Pound (October 27, 1870 – June 30, 1964) was an American legal scholar and educator. He served as Dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law from 1903 to 1911 and Dean of Harvard Law School from 1916 to 1936. He was a memb ...
of the Harvard Law School. Pioneering American criminologist
August Vollmer August "Gus" Vollmer (March 7, 1876 – November 4, 1955) was the first police chief of Berkeley, California, and a leading figure in the development of the field of criminal justice in the United States in the early 20th century. He has been de ...
wrote portions of the report. From 1929 to 1930,
Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in con ...
worked in legal research for the general counsel of the "Wickersham Committee" (as
William L. Marbury, Jr. William Luke Marbury Jr. (September 12, 1901 – March 5, 1988) was a prominent 20th-century American lawyer who practiced with his family's law firm of Marbury, Miller & Evans (later Piper & Marbury, Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, Piper Rudnick ...
described it in a 1935 letter, in which he sought the support of U.S. Senator
George L. P. Radcliffe George Lovic Pierce Radcliffe (August 22, 1877July 29, 1974) was a Democratic member of the United States Senate who represented Maryland from 1935 to 1947. Background Radcliffe was born on a farm at Lloyds, near Cambridge, Maryland. He attend ...
for the appointment of
Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in con ...
to the U.S. Solicitor General's office).


Findings

The Commission focused its investigations almost entirely on the widespread violations of national alcohol prohibition to study and recommend changes to the Eighteenth Amendment and to observe police practices in the states. They observed police interrogation tactics and reported that "the inflicting of pain, physical or mental, to extract confessions or statements... is widespread throughout the country." They released a second report in 1931 that supported Prohibition but found contempt among average Americans and unworkable enforcement across the states, corruption in police ranks, local politics and problems in every community that attempted to enforce prohibition laws.
August Vollmer August "Gus" Vollmer (March 7, 1876 – November 4, 1955) was the first police chief of Berkeley, California, and a leading figure in the development of the field of criminal justice in the United States in the early 20th century. He has been de ...
was the primary author of the Commission's final report, commonly known as the Wickersham Report, which was released on January 7, 1931. It documented the widespread evasion of Prohibition and its negative effects on American society and recommended much more aggressive and extensive law enforcement to enforce compliance with anti-alcohol laws. The report castigated the police for their "general failure... to detect and arrest criminals guilty of the many murders, spectacular bank, payroll and other holdups and sensational robberies with guns." Monte M. Lemann was the only commission member who refused to sign the report, issuing a separate opinion, where he concluded that there was "no alternative but repeal of the ighteenthAmendment."


Criticism

Franklin P. Adams Franklin Pierce Adams (November 15, 1881 – March 23, 1960) was an American columnist known as Franklin P. Adams and by his initials F.P.A.. Famed for his wit, he is best known for his newspaper column, "The Conning Tower", and his appearances a ...
, a columnist for the '' New York World'', summarized his opinion of the Commission's report with this poem:
Prohibition is an awful flop.
We like it.
It can't stop what it's meant to stop.
We like it.
It's left a trail of graft and slime
It don't prohibit worth a dime
It's filled our land with vice and crime,
Nevertheless, we're for it.
In the November 1931 issue of the ''
New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both '' The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (1 ...
'', graphic artist Jacob Burck published the cartoon "I-I B-b-eg Your Pardon..." depicting a mortified Wickersham, holding his Wickersham report, while he looks on as a capitalist violates liberty.


See also

*
Bureau of Prohibition The Bureau of Prohibition (or Prohibition Unit) was the United States federal law enforcement agency formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly known as the Volstead Act, which enforced the 18th Amendment to the United S ...
*
Preparedness Day Bombing The Preparedness Day Bombing was a bombing in San Francisco, California, United States, on July 22, 1916, of a parade organised by local supporters of the Preparedness Movement which advocated American entry into World War I. During the parade a ...
*
Thomas Mooney Thomas Joseph Mooney (December 8, 1882 – March 6, 1942) was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It quickly became apparent that ...
*
Warren K Billings Warren Knox Billings (July 4, 1893 – September 4, 1972) was a labor leader and political activist, who was convicted with Thomas Mooney of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It is believed that the two were wrongly convicted ...
*
Edwin Atherton Edwin Newton Atherton (October 12, 1896 – August 31, 1944) served as a foreign service officer, Bureau of Investigation agent, private investigator, and later, appointed head of the college athletics organization, the Pacific Coast Conference i ...
* Emma A. Winslow


Notes


Commission Reports Historical Bibliography

* * * * * *


Sources

* John Vernon, "The Wickersham Commission and William Monroe Trotter" in ''Negro History Bulletin'', 1999 (January–March) * Marc L. Miller and Ronald F. Wright, ''Criminal Procedures, Cases, Statutes, and Executive Materials'', Second Ed. 2003 * Department of Justice Library
"Report on the Enforcement of the Prohibition Laws of the United States: National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement"
* * Boyer, Paul S. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print. * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wickersham Commission Prohibition in the United States History of law enforcement in the United States Presidency of Herbert Hoover Police misconduct in the United States