Twenty-First Amendment - Repeal of Prohibition
Original Text
Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
In Plain Language
The Twenty-First Amendment repealed Prohibition by undoing the Eighteenth Amendment—the only time one amendment has directly repealed another. But the Twenty-First Amendment isn't only about repeal. Section 2 has its own affirmative content: it grants states broad authority to regulate the importation and use of alcohol within their borders, carving out a partial exception to normal Commerce Clause rules.
State alcohol power under Section 2 is real and substantial. States can operate government-run liquor stores, ban certain products, restrict hours and locations of sale, or require distribution through specific channels. Courts have recognized this as a genuine deviation from standard interstate commerce doctrine.
But Section 2 has limits. State alcohol regulations must still comply with the Equal Protection Clause, the Privileges or Immunities Clause, and basic constitutional guarantees. States can favor state regulatory interests in alcohol policy, but they can't engage in outright discrimination against out-of-state producers without adequate justification. Section 2 authorizes state regulation—it doesn't license unconstitutional discrimination.
Historical Significance
Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933 — the only time one constitutional amendment repealed another. Ratification took just 10 months. States used conventions instead of legislatures because temperance forces controlled many state governments.
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Historical Context
Prohibition failed as a constitutional experiment. Bootleggers and organized crime syndicates filled the supply gap. Federal enforcement was underfunded and routinely corrupted. The Wickersham Commission, reporting to President Hoover in 1931, documented systematic enforcement failure while still recommending continuation—a conclusion that satisfied almost no one.
The Great Depression broke the political deadlock. Lost alcohol tax revenue suddenly mattered enormously to cash-strapped governments. Congress proposed repeal on February 20, 1933, deliberately requiring ratification through state conventions rather than state legislatures to bypass temperance lobbies that controlled many statehouses. This makes the Twenty-First Amendment the only one ratified through state conventions rather than legislatures, and the only one to directly repeal a prior amendment. Utah became the 36th and deciding state on December 5, 1933.
The scope of Section 2 has been litigated extensively. In Granholm v. Heald (2005), the Supreme Court held 5-4 that states can maintain three-tier distribution systems (producer → wholesaler → retailer) as a legitimate regulatory structure, but can't give in-state producers advantages they deny out-of-state competitors. Section 2 authorizes state regulation of alcohol; it doesn't license unconstitutional discrimination against interstate commerce.
How This Shows Up Today
Seventeen "control states"—including Pennsylvania, Utah, and North Carolina—operate government-run liquor stores with monopoly pricing, a direct exercise of Section 2 authority. Most states enforce three-tier distribution systems requiring alcohol to move from producer to wholesaler to retailer. Granholm v. Heald (2005) struck down laws favoring in-state wineries over out-of-state competitors while leaving the three-tier system intact. New York permanently authorized direct-to-consumer craft spirit shipping in August 2024 after COVID-era experiments demonstrated consumer demand.
State-by-state alcohol laws
Different drinking ages before 1984
Three-tier distribution systems
Discussion Questions4
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