Roy Lee Barrett, Jackie Hamilton Gainey and Cleveland Johns v. United States

WISDOM, Circuit Judge.

The defendants-appellants raise an important issue — the constitutionality of the statutory presumptions which Section 5601(b), Title 26 U.S.C.A. establishes. These are presumptions of a defendant’s possession of a still and of carrying on the business of a distiller on a showing of the defendant’s unexplained presence at the site of an unregistered still. Reluctantly, because of a proper respect for Acts of Congress and because of the special competency of the legislature generally to establish rules of evidence and procedure, 1 we feel compelled to hold that these…