Notes on 18 U.S.C. § 1154 : US Code - Notes

Search Notes on 18 U.S.C. § 1154 : US Code - Notes

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 758; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, Sec.
27, 63 Stat. 94; Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXIII, Sec. 330016(1)(G),
(I), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
1948 ACT
Based on sections 241, 242, 244a, 249, 254 of title 25, U.S.C.,
1940 ed., Indians (R.S. Sec. 2139; Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, Sec. 1,
19 Stat. 244; July 4, 1884, ch. 180, Sec. 1, 23 Stat. 94; July 23,
1892, ch. 234, 27 Stat. 260; Mar. 2, 1917, ch. 146, Sec. 17, 39
Stat. 983; June 13, 1932, ch. 245, 47 Stat. 302; Mar. 5, 1934, ch.
43, 48 Stat. 396; June 27, 1934, ch. 846, 48 Stat. 1245; June 15,
1938, ch. 435, Sec. 1, 52 Stat. 696).
Section consolidates sections 241, 242, 244a, and 249 of title
25, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians. The portion of section 241 of said
title which defined the substantive offense became subsection (a);
the portion relating to the scope of the term "Indian country" was
omitted as unnecessary in view of definition of "Indian country" in
section 1151 of this title; the portion of section 241 of said
title excepting liquors introduced by the War Department became
subsection (c), as limited by section 249 of said title; the
portion respecting making complaint in county of offense, and with
reference to arraignment, was omitted as covered by rule 5 of the
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; and the remainder of section
241 of said title was incorporated in section 1156 of this title.
Section 254 of title 25, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians, was omitted
as covered by this section and section 1156 of this title. That
section was enacted in 1934 and excluded from the Indian liquor
laws lands outside reservations where the land was no longer held
by Indians under a trust patent or a deed or patent containing
restrictions against alienation. Such enactment was prior to the
June 15, 1938, amendment of section 241 of title 25, U.S.C., 1940
ed., Indians, in which the term "Indian country" was defined as
including allotments where the title was held in trust by the
Government or where it was inalienable without the consent of the
United States. This provision, by implication, excluded cases where
there was no trust or restriction on alienation and thereby
achieved the same result as section 254 of title 25, U.S.C., 1940
ed., Indians. That amendment also repealed the act of Jan. 30,
1897, referred to in section 254 of title 25, U.S.C., 1940 ed.,
Indians. Insofar as the reference in section 254 of said title to
"special Indian liquor laws" included section 244 of title 25,
U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians, the definition of Indian country in
section 1151 of this title covers section 254 of title 25, U.S.C.,
1940 ed., Indians.
Words "or agent" were deleted as there have been no Indian agents
since 1908. See section 64 of title 25, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians,
and note thereunder.
Mandatory punishment provisions were rephrased in the alternative
and provision for commitment for nonpayment of fine was deleted.
This change was also recommended by United States District Judge T.
Blake Kennedy on the ground that, otherwise, section would be
practically meaningless since, in most cases, offenders cannot pay
a fine.
The exception of intoxicating liquor for scientific, sacramental,
medicinal or mechanical purposes was inserted for the same reason
that makes this exception appropriate to section 1262 of this
title.
Minor changes were made in phraseology.
1949 ACT
Subsection (a) of this section [section 27(a)] substitutes
"Department of the Army" for "War Department", in subsection (b) of
section 1154 of title 18, U.S.C., to conform to such redesignation
by act July 26, 1947 (ch. 343, title 11, Sec. 205(a), 61 Stat. 501
(5 U.S.C., 1946 ed., Sec. 181-1)). Subsection (b) of this section
[section 27(b)] adds subsection (c) to such section 1154 in order
to conform it and section 1156 more closely to the laws relating to
intoxicating liquor in the Indian country as they have heretofore
been construed.
AMENDMENTS
1994 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103-322 substituted "fined under this
title" for "fined not more than $500" after "first offense, be" and
for "fined not more than $2,000" after "subsequent offense, be".
1949 - Subsec. (b). Act May 24, 1949, Sec. 27(a), substituted
"Department of the Army" for "War Department".
Subsec. (c). Act May 24, 1949, Sec. 27(b), added subsec. (c).
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS
Functions of all other officers of Department of the Interior and
functions of all agencies and employees of such Department, with
two exceptions, transferred to Secretary of the Interior, with
power vested in him to authorize their performance or performance
of any of his functions by any of such officers, agencies, and
employees, by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, Secs. 1, 2, eff. May 24,
1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title
5, Government Organization and Employees.