NCJ Number
49982
Journal
Ohio State Law Journal Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: (1978) Pages: 132-157
Date Published
1978
Length
26 pages
Annotation
THE NEED FOR AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE JURISDICTIONAL APPROACH EMBODIED IN THE PROPOSED FEDERAL CRIMINAL CODE ARE ADDRESSED.
Abstract
THE ONLY CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS THAT SPECIFICALLY AUTHORIZE FEDERAL JURISDICTION OVER CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES EMPOWER CONGRESS TO PROVIDE FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF COUNTERFEITING SECURITIES AND CURRENT COIN OF THE UNITED STATES, TO DEFINE AND PUNISH PIRACIES AND FELONIES COMMITTED ON THE HIGH SEAS AND OFFENSES AGAINST THE LAW OF NATIONS, TO EXERCISE EXCLUSIVE LEGISLATION IN ALL CASES WHERE A DISTRICT OR AN AREA BECOME THE SEAT OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, AND TO DECLARE THE PUNISHMENT OF TREASON. THE EXPANSION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION UNDER THE COMMERCE CLAUSE (PLENARY POWER, THE LARCENY ACT, AND JURISDICTION AS AN ELEMENT OF FEDERAL OFFENSES) IS DISCUSSED. FEDERAL CRIMINAL JURISDICTION IS CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE ANTI-EXTORTION ACT, THE HOBBS ACT, PLENARY POWER AND FEDERAL REGULATION OF LOCAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, AND THE PEREZ VERSUS THE UNITED STATES COURT CASE. IN THE PROPOSED CODE, FEDERAL OFFENSES ARE RESTRUCTURED TO DEEMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE JURISDICTIONAL FACTOR TO THE FEDERAL OFFENSE. DEEMPHASIS IN JURISDICTION IS CARRIED OUT BY SEPARATING THE JURISDICTIONAL VIOLATION FROM THE UNDERLYING OFFENSE AND, AS A COROLLARY, BY PROVIDING A PER SE RULE THAT THE EXISTENCE OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION IS NOT AN ELEMENT OF THE FEDERAL OFFENSE AND THUS NOT AN ISSUE OF FACT FOR THE JURY. THE PROPOSED CODE ADDRESSES PROBLEMS OF LOCAL NOT NATIONAL CONCERN AND THUS MAY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE COURSE OF CRIMINAL LAW. (DP)