United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Rippey v. Texas, 193 U.S. 504 (1904)

Rippey v. Texas

No. 273

Argued March 11, 1904

Decided March 21, 1904

193 U.S. 504

Syllabus

This Court follows the state court as to the validity of a state statute under the constitution of the state, and the question here is whether the state constitution in authorizing the law encounters the Constitution of the United States.

A state has absolute power over the sale of intoxicating liquors, and may prohibit it altogether or conditionally, as it sees fit. Mugler v. Kansas, 123 U. S. 623.

The provisions in articles 3384-3394, Revised Statutes, and articles 402-407, Penal Code of Texas, as to the submission to the people of the question of prohibiting or allowing the sale of liquor in different sections of the state are not contrary to any of the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, because they discriminate in favor of a vote for prohibition.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.

Page 193 U. S. 508