Knock Twice Scrapbook

Jul 01
Permalink
On July 18, 1972, an Amtrak train moving interstate through Oklahoma, was boarded at Oklahoma City by law enforcement officers who found liquor being sold on the train by the drink. George Bell, an Amtrak employee, was charged with operating an open saloon in violation of Oklahoma law. On September 6, 1972 Amtrak filed this suit pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1331, 1332, 1337 seeking a declaratory judgment holding (1) Oklahoma’s liquor laws could not be enforced against it because Congress had exempted its operations from ‘any State or other law pertaining to the transportation of passengers by railroad as it relates to rates, routes, or service’ 45 U.S.C. 546(c); and (2) in the prosecution of its employee, George Bell, the appellants had engaged in ‘conscious willful discrimination’ in the application of the Oklahoma liquor laws ‘resulting in discriminatory enforcement’ as prohibited under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The District Court, after a hearing, granted the declaratory judgment prayed for, found discriminatory enforcement present and issued a permanent injunction ‘to protect and effectuate’ its decrees. 354 F.Supp. 887, 893, 894 (1972). Amtrak’s first issue based on its claimed exemption from Oklahoma law was raised and decided adversely to it in National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Miller, 358 F.Supp. 1321 (D.C.Kan., 1973), affirmed, 414 U.S. 948, 94 S.Ct. 285, 38 L.Ed.2d 205 (1973). It is therefore without merit.
Comments (View)
blog comments powered by Disqus