Keepers of the Spirits: The Judicial Response to Prohibition Enforcement in Florida, 1885-1935

(Hardback)

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Drawn from research in the manuscript records of the federal judiciary and the court reports of the Florida Supreme Court, this book examines how state and federal judges responded to the enforcement of local, state, and national prohibition in Florida. Upholding these measures often resulted in governmental encroachment on civil liberties; consequently, judges found themselves positioned to determine the scope of the liquor laws. As they balanced the rights of individuals with the power of the state, Florida judges acted independently of public opinion and based their rulings on precedent and citation of authority. To present the fullest picture possible, this text, while focusing on the efforts of the judges to uphold the spirit and the letter of the various liquor laws, it also considers the views of individuals who violated prohibition.

Reviews

In this short, valuable study, John J. Guthrie Jr. moves beyond the national focus of Hamm and Murchison to scrutinize Prohibition enforcement at the state level, specifally the interplay of federal law, and state and federal district courts. . . . Guthrie's book advances our understanding of the mechanics of Prohibition and its influence in American public life. * The Journal of Southern History, Vol 65, #3, 1999 *
John J. Guthrie Jr. makes an important contribution to this neglected topic with his half-century case study of Florida. His well-researched monograph, based on a 1993 University of Florida doctoral dissertation and several published articles, demonstrates the revelance of enduring traditions in American common law and constitutional thought, manifested in the opinions issued by members of the Florida supreme court and the federal district courts of southern Florida. . . . Guthrie's Keepers of the Spirit is warmly recommended to historians of prohibition, of American legal and and constitutional thought, and of Florida political life. * Florida Historical Quarterly *

Author Bio

John Guthrie, Jr., was associate professor of history at Daytona Beach Community College. He holds a PhD from the University of Florida and is the coauthor of The Florida Land Boom: Speculation, Money, and the Banks (Quorum, 1995).