Jurisdictional Limits of U.S. Courts

¶ … JURISDICTIONAL LIMITS of U.S. COURTS

Jurisdictional Issues

United States v. Smiley (1864) 27 Fed. Cas. 1132.

The steam ship Golden Gate sailed for Panama in 1862 and was lost to a fire six days later, in shallow waters 15 miles from the port of Manzanillo, Mexico. All attempts to recover the cargo, which consisted of a large sum of money ($1.45 million dollars), were eventually abandoned. Eventually, the marine cargo salvage expert Smiley was able to recover $1.2 million from the submerged wreck, but a disagreement between the former owners of the steam ship and Smiley led the shippers to file felony criminal charges against Smiley in an attempt to recover the money. The charges filed against Smiley and his crew was based on Section 9 of Chapter LXV, 18th Congress, Session II, March 3, 1925, which states that plundering money from a wrecked ship within the admiralty and maritime jurisdictions of the United States is a felony punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and 10 years in prison (Peters, 1846).

The federal Circuit Court Judge for California, Mr. Field, considered the jurisdictional issues of United States v. Smiley under admiralty and maritime law, which is defined by the actual or constructive territory of the United States. The actual territory of the United States in 1865 consisted of all the land and waterways in its possession, plus a marine league extending from its shores outward into the surrounding oceans (three nautical miles). If the ship had sunk within these boundaries, then federal courts would have maritime jurisdiction. However, the Golden Gate wreckage was located over 800 miles away from the nearest U.S. territory.

The constructive territory of the United States included vessels sailing under the U.S. flag and embassies. For example, if a person on a U.S. ship sailing in international waters commited a crime they could be tried, convicted, and sentenced by the officers of the ship. U.S. citizens traveling abroad in countries may also be covered by U.S. courts if an active treaty allows the U.S. government to maintain jurisdiction over its citizens in criminal matters. However, by the time Smiley and his crew began to recover the money from the wrecked Golden Gate steam ship, the captain, crew, and owners had abandoned the wreck. Smiley and his crew could therefore recover all and any treasure from the wreck without worrying about the admiralty and maritime laws of the United States. Although the government of Mexico could claim jurisdiction in this case under its maritime laws, since the wreck was well within three miles of its shores, this is irrelevant to Justice Field's consideration of standing in U.S. courts. Smiley and his crew were therefore free to dispose of the recovered treasure as they deemed fit.

United States v. Jarod Lee Loughner

Jared Lee Loughner went on a shooting rampage at an outdoor 'Congress on Your Corner' event at a local supermarket in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011 (United States v. Jared Lee Loughner, 2012). Six people were killed, including U.S. District Judge John Roll and federal employee Gabriel Zimmerman (Audi, 2011; Doyle, 2011). Another 13 were wounded, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

The case fell under federal jurisdiction despite the fact that most murder cases are tried at the state level (Doyle, 2011). Since a federal judge and a federal employee were murdered by Loughner, and Representative Giffords was generally assumed to be the target of attempted murder, the U.S. Justice of Department claimed jurisdiction under Title 18 U.S.C. §351.

More specifically, Title 18 U.S.C. §351(c) provides a prison term up to life for attempted murder of a member of Congress (Doyle, 2011), §351(g) confers investigative authority to the FBI when government officials are threatened or harmed during the performance of their duties (DOJ, n.d.), and Title 18 U.S.C. §1114 provides a prison term of any length up to life, or death, for killing a federal officer or employee (Doyle, 2011), which would cover the murders of Judge Roll and Zimmerman.

The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) filed preliminary charges on January 9, 2011 that included attempting to kill a member of Congress and killing federal employees during performance of their duties (Doyle, 2011). These Title 18 charges were later revised to include the §351(c) and §1114 provisions, in addition to the use of a firearm to commit these crimes [§924(c)(1)(a)], causing a death with the use of a firearm [§924(j)(1)], causing a death during a federally-protected activity [§245(b)(1)(B)], and causing injuries during a federally-protected activity [§245(b)(1)(B)].

On November 8, 2012 Loughner was sentenced to seven consecutive life terms in a federal penitentiary (Santos, 2012), which ended the federal prosecution's case against Loughner. The sentencing hearing was scheduled following Loughner pleading guilty to 19 charges of murder and attempted murder in August of the same year. The guilty plea was offered only after the judge in the case ruled that Loughner was competent to stand trial. The plea deal that was reached avoided a lengthy trial and ensured that Loughner would never be released from prison. The State of Arizona decided not to press charges, which was their right once the federal case had concluded. The decision not to prosecute prevented victims and their family members from having to suffer through a lengthy criminal trial (Associated Press, 2012).

Discussion

The two cases reviewed above, United States v. Smiley (1864) and United States v. Jarod Lee Loughner (2012), present a wide variety of jurisdictional considerations, extending from state to international law. In Loughner, the federal government imposed jurisdiction because several of the victims were federal employees and a Congresswoman. The existence of federal criminal sanctions for threats and assault against government officials creates a special jurisdiction based on occupation. For example, some states have passed laws that increase the criminal penalties for offenders who assault or kill a police officer (New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, 2005). Federal employees, federal judges, and Congresspersons represent a special class of citizens because the democratic process depends on these individuals performing their duties without an unreasonable fear of harm. By enacting such legislation, Congress could bring the full weight and power of the federal government to bear upon acts that could subvert or illegally manipulate the democratic process. Such statues effectively extend the jurisdiction of the federal criminal justice system into matters normally handled by state and local authorities.