Brown v. State
Brown v. State
Opinion of the Court
Brown was indicted for the violation of the local option law of the county of Dekalb. The indictment charged him with having retailed imported and domestic wines in quantities less than a quart. The act of 24th December, 1884, entitled “ An act to authorize the citizens of Dekalb county to cast a vote to decide whether intoxicating liquors shall be manufactured or sold in said county,” provides for an election, to be held upon the petition of a certain number of citizens, and that at such election they may endorse on their tickets, “ Allowed ” or “ Not allowed.” It further provides: “That if a majority of the votes cast at said election shall be endorsed, ‘Not allowed,’ and so certified by the managers as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the ordinary immediately to give notice thereof in said public gazette, and after said notice, the manufacture and sale of all intoxicating liquors in said county shall cease and not be allowed, and any person violating the provisions of this act shall be punished as prescribed in section 4310 of the code of 1882; provided, that this act shall not interfere with the manufacture or sale of domestic wines or cider, or wines for medicinal or sacramental purposes.”
It will be borne in mind, however, -that this indictment does not charge the plaintiff in error with having retailed domestic wine in quantities less than a quart without license. The charge is simply that he retailed it, without saying whether he did so with or without a license. The court below was of the opinion that this local option act, as applied to Dekalb county, took from all parties the authority to issue a license in that county to retail domestic wines in less quantities than one quart. We do not think so. We think the same authority exists now as existed before- the passage of this act.
Judgment reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Brown v. The State of Georgia
- Status
- Published