U.S. Supreme Court U.S. v. POWERS, 307 U.S. 214 (1939)

[Page 307 U.S. 214, 218]

ited after June 16, 1937, as before, violations committed prior to that date are not punishable thereafter.

In view of this conclusion, we do not reach the nub of appellees' argument based on Chief Justice Marshall's statement in The Irresistible, 7 Wheat. 551, 552, 'that an offense against a temporary act cannot be punished after the expiration of the act, unless a particular provision be made by law for the purpose.' For in this case, as we have said, the Act of February 22, 1935, did not expire on June 16, 1937.

But even if we assume the validity of that statement, it seems to us clear that though the Act be treated as having expired or terminated on June 16, 1937, the result is the same. For in this case 'particular provision' has been made 'by law for the purpose' of extending the enforcement machinery with reference to prior criminal violations. The 'particular provision' was the amendment of June 14, 1937, extending the effective period of the Act. That amendment was passed prior to the original expiration date. When read in light of the title of the amendatory statute, viz. 'An Act To continue in effect until June 30, 1939, the Act ... approved February 22, 1935', 50 Stat. 257, the statement of purpose becomes plain and unambiguous. If the amendment of June 14, 1937, had merely 'extended' the duration, or postponed the expiration, of section 10 of the Act dealing with criminal penalties, 'particular provision' for subsequent prosecutions would have been indubitably clear. The fact that all sections, including section 10, were extended makes it nonetheless plain. The whole, though larger than any of its parts, does not necessarily obscure their separate identities.

In view of these various considerations, we hold that this prosecution does not offend the prohibition in Article I 9, cl. 3 of the Constitution, U.S.C.A., against ex post facto laws.

Judgment reversed.