United States v. Katz, 271 U.S. 354 (1926)

United States v. Katz

No. 726, 727

Argued March 11, 1926
Decided May 24, 1926
271 U.S. 354

ERROR TO THE UNITED STATE DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Syllabus

1. Section 10 of the Prohibition Act, in providing that no person shall manufacture, purchase for sale, or transport any liquor with out making a record of the transaction in detail, applies to persons authorized by other sections of the Act to deal in nonbeverage liquor under government permit; it was not intended to add to the crime of unauthorized dealing a second offense whenever the person so dealing should fail to make a record of his own wrongdoing. P. 356.

2. General terms descriptive of a class of persons made subject to a criminal statute may and should be limited where the literal application of the statute would lead to extreme or absurd results, and where the legislative purpose gathered from the whole Act would be satisfied by a more limited interpretation. P. 362.

5 F.2d 527 affirmed.

Error to judgments of the district court quashing indictments.