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Simple English definitions for legal terms
prohibition
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A quick definition of prohibition:
Prohibition: A time when alcohol was illegal in the United States. This happened because some people thought alcohol was bad and wanted to stop people from drinking it. But, this made some people do bad things like selling alcohol illegally and being involved in crime. People didn't like it, so they changed the law and made alcohol legal again. This is the only time in history when a law in the Constitution was changed by another law.
A more thorough explanation:
Prohibition refers to the act of prohibiting or forbidding something. In legal terms, it can refer to a writ of prohibition, which is a court order that prevents a lower court from taking a certain action.
However, in the United States, prohibition is often associated with the time period when the sale and transportation of alcohol was illegal. This began in the mid-19th century when groups like the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union pushed for the prohibition of alcohol at the state and federal level. Their efforts led to the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which banned the sale and transportation of alcohol in the United States, effective 1919.
Prohibition led to the rise of organized crime involved in bootlegging alcohol, and shortly after its passage, it became widely unpopular. Thus, in 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution repealed the 18th Amendment, making the sale and transportation of alcohol in the United States legal once more. The 18th Amendment is the only Amendment in the history of the Constitution to be repealed by subsequent Amendment.
For example, during the time of prohibition, people would often go to speakeasies, which were secret bars that sold illegal alcohol. This illustrates how prohibition led to the rise of organized crime and the creation of illegal markets for alcohol.