Monday, May 20, 2013

May 20: Wickersham Commission

On this date in History .... May 20, 1929:  

President Hoover establishes the Wickersham Commission look into prohibition and make recommendations on how it was working out. It was the first national review of crime and law enforcement and the final report spanned fourteen volumes. 

The majority of the commission rejected the idea of repealing prohibition but at the same time agreed it was unenforceable. The biggest reason, they found, was that the public found prohibition laws contemptable and there was pride in violating the prohibition laws. This attitude also saw an increase in “dry” politicians being voted out of office and replaced with “wet” politicians. 

Prohibition, the law that gave birth to bootleggers and an increase in organized crime, was eventually repealed.

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