26 U.S.C. § 5686
Section 5686 · Penalty for having, possessing, or using liquor or property intended to be used in violating provisions of this chapter
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 50 court decisions — leading case United States v. Giuliano (1959)
Most recently applied in 690 F. Supp. 990 - Young v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (July 1988)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
It shall be unlawful to have or possess any liquor or property intended for use in violating any provision of this chapter or regulations issued pursuant thereto, or which has been so used, and every person so having or possessing or using such liquor or property, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.
For seizure and forfeiture of liquor and property had, possessed, or used in violation of subsection (a), see section 7302.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 5686, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 700, consisted in subsecs. (b) and (c) of provisions similar to those comprising this section, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 85–859.
Prior section 5686(a) related to offenses as to operation of industrial alcohol or denaturing plants or unlawful withdrawal of taxable alcohol. See section 5687 of this title.
Cross References
Applicability of this section to Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands, see section 5314 of this title.