Last Call — Prohibition

The crusade against vice wins a battle in the war against liquor with the 1919 passage of the Volstead Act. Though vetoed by the president, it is approved by Congress and becomes the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. As of January 1920, making, selling, or drinking alcohol is prohibited, except for some religious or medicinal purposes. The 19th-century temperance movement had been fueled primarily by small-town fundamentalist Protestants, but at the dawn of this new century, the movement has a following in cities as well. The "dries," as they are known, consider the country to be at risk of going to the devil via drugs, sex, liquor, and gambling.

Prohibition will prove short-lived — and ineffective — but this act changes the criminal justice system forever. The law does not stop the flow of alcohol. Speakeasies, bootlegging, and bathtub gin proliferate. This demand for an outlawed product only serves to cultivate and strengthen organized crime. The gangster Al Capone and his ilk gain national notoriety. The federal criminal justice system also grows more influential because Volstead violations are federal offenses. More federal officials, courts, and correctional institutions are needed to provide enforcement.