Van Oster v. Kansas, 272 U.S. 465 (1926)

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT

OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

Syllabus

1. The power of a state to forfeit property used in violation of its liquor prohibition laws extend to property (an automobile) of an innocent owner who entrusted it possession and use to the wrongdoer. P. 467.

2. Semble that there is no valid distinction rendering this police power less plenary under the Fourteenth Amendment than similar exercise of the federal taxing power under the Fifth Amendment. P. 468.

3. The mere fact that the state statute here in question has a broader scope than § 26 of the National Prohibition Act, authorizing confiscation of vehicles used in unlawful transportation of liquor, does not affect its validity. P. 468.

4. The Constitution does not require a jury trial of such forfeitures under state law. P. 469.

5. The sufficiency of the evidence in such proceedings, and the effect on the forfeiture of a subsequent acquittal of the offending person in a separate trial, are matter of state law. P. 469.

119 Kan. 874 affirmed.

Error to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Kansas affirming a judgment forfeiting an automobile, under the laws of Kansas because of its use in the illegal transportation of intoxicating liquor.