His Honor Judge Adams’ decision in a case under the Inebriates Act has been upheld by the Court for Crown Cases Reserved in Dublin. The case involved Anne Meehan, who was indicted at Limerick Quarter Sessions for assault and for being a habitual drunkard within the meaning of the Inebriates Act, 1898.

The prisoner pleaded guilty to the assault, and Judge Adams then directed that a jury should be sworn to determine whether the prisoner was indeed a habitual drunkard. The prisoner’s solicitor objected, claiming that the judge had no power to swear in a jury for this issue. Nonetheless, a jury was sworn, and the prisoner was found guilty of habitual drunkenness, resulting in an order for her detention in the State Inebriate Reformatory at Eonis for six months.

The solicitor requested Judge Adams to state a case for the higher court’s opinion on whether he had the jurisdiction to swear in a jury for the issue of habitual drunkenness or whether he should have handled the case solely based on the plea of guilty to the assault charge.

After thorough arguments by legal representatives, the Court for Crown Cases Reserved held that Judge Adams was indeed right in his decision to have a jury determine the issue of habitual drunkenness. The judgment affirms the judge’s authority to employ a jury for this purpose in such cases under the Inebriates Act.

Limerick Echo – Tuesday 27 June 1905