Herbert A. Rice Attorney General Pawtucket (may 1, 1900 – jan 1, 0)

Description:

Dates of Service: May 1900-1901

Date of Birth: July 25, 1866

Birth Place: Pawtucket

Education: Brown University (1889), Harvard Law School (1895)

Occupation: Teacher, University Grammar School (1889-1892); Admitted to Rhode Island bar (1895), later to the United States courts, including Supreme Court. Coroner, Pawtucket, (1896-1898).

Other Offices: Member, Pawtucket School Committee (1890-1892).; Attorney General (1912-1923)

Memberships: Member, House Judiciary Committee; Member, Providence County Court House Commission (1912); Sons of the American Revolution (president Rhode Island Society, 1922-1923, director general National Society, 1923). Grand Master of.

Other Information:
National Prohibition Challenge (State of Rhode Island v. Palmer): As Attorney General, Rice took on a historically massive national case in 1920, arguing directly before the United States Supreme Court. Representing the "wet" state of Rhode Island, he was directed by the General Assembly to legally challenge the constitutionality of the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) and the Volstead Act. He famously argued that the amendment unconstitutionally projected federal law enforcement into the borders of a sovereign state, fiercely defending Rhode Island's state rights against federal prohibition mandates (though the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against the state).

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