The Crimes Act of 1790 (or the Federal Criminal Code of 1790),Crimes Act of 1790, ch. 9, 1 Stat. 112. formally titled An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States, defined some of the first federal crimes in the United States and expanded on the criminal procedure provisions of the Judiciary Act of 1789.Taylor, 2010, at 889. The Crimes Act was a "comprehensive statute defining an impressive variety of federal crimes".Currie, 1994, at 828.
As an enactment of the First Congress, the Crimes Act is often regarded as a quasi-constitutional text. The punishment of treason, piracy, counterfeiting, as well as crimes committed on the high seas or against the law of nations, followed from relatively explicit constitutional authority.Currie, 1994, at 828–29. The creation of crimes within areas under exclusive federal jurisdiction followed from the plenary power of Congress over the "Seat of the Government", federal enclaves, and federal territories.Currie, 1994, at 828–830. The creation of crimes involving the integrity of the judicial process derived from Congress's authority to establish such courts.
The Crimes Act also established a statute of limitations for federal crimes, provided for criminal venue, ensured procedural protections for treason and capital defendants, simplified the pleading requirements for perjury, and provided protections broader than those in the Constitution against corruption of blood. Further, the act provided for punitive dissection of murderers and codified diplomatic immunity.
Background Even after the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789, "the definition of crimes and the establishment of punishments" remained a "missing link of the criminal system"., 1985, at 7. The Judiciary Act of 1789 divided original jurisdiction for the trial of federal crimes between the district courts and the circuit courts. The district courts were given jurisdiction over all federal crimes "where no other punishment than whipping, not exceeding thirty stripes, a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months, is to be inflicted".Judiciary Act of 1789, § 9, 1 Stat. 73, 76–77. The circuit courts were given concurrent jurisdiction over these crimes, and exclusive jurisdiction over all other federal crimes.Judiciary Act of 1789, § 11, 1 Stat. 73, 78–79. The circuit courts also exercised appellate jurisdiction over the district courts, but only in civil cases.Judiciary Act of 1789, § 22, 1 Stat. 73, 84–85.
The Judiciary Act of 1789 also placed the responsibility for prosecuting federal crimes in the United States Attorney for each federal judicial district. The act provided that "there shall be appointed in each district" a "person learned in the law to act as attorney for the United States in such district, who shall be sworn or affirmed to the faithful execution of his office, whose duty it shall be to prosecute in such district all delinquents for crimes and offences, cognizable under the authority of the United States."Judiciary Act of 1789, § 35, 1 Stat. 73, 92–93.
Prior to the Crimes Act, Congress had established very few federal crimes. Among Congress's earlier criminal statutes were: The renewal of the Northwest Ordinance, which authorized the executive to adopt state law within the Northwest Territory;1 Stat. 50. See Currie, 1994, at 329 n.319. and A prohibition on unloading ships in the dark or without a license, as well as customs bribery and false statements;Act of July 31, 1789, ch. 5, § 12, 1 Stat. 29, 39, 46. See Currie, 1994, at 833. and A prohibition on census takers failing to report their findings.Act of March 1, 1790, §§ 2–3, 1 Stat. 101, 102. See Currie, 1994, at 833.
Drafting The Senate passed an act to define a variety of federal crimes on August 31, 1789, but the House did not act on that bill.
Like the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the Process Act of 1789, the Crimes Act was primarily authored by Senator (and future Chief Justice) Oliver Ellsworth as the chair of the Senate committee.Taylor, 2010, at 860, 892. The committee examined the state criminal laws of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina at the beginning of the drafting process.Taylor, 2010, at 901. The Crimes Act generated "little reported debate" on the floor of Congress. The act was passed on April 30, 1790.
Crimes established Due to the seriousness of the authorized sentences, under the Judiciary Act of 1789, original jurisdiction for the trial of all of the crimes created by the Crimes Act would have rested with the circuit courts; none of the crimes created could have been tried in the district courts.
Treason Article Three provides that: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted." art. III, § 3.
As to misprision of treason, according to David P. Currie, because "[t]he Constitution said nothing of this offense", "the legislators must have interpreted the narrow definition of treason in Article III not to preclude it from creating lesser related offenses that might otherwise fall within federal purview—although nothing in the misprision provision suggested that Congress had yet considered the possible impact of the Treason Clause on its efforts to punish seditious expression."
SectionCommon offense nameTextAuthorized sentenceSupreme Court cases1Treason[I]f any person or persons, owing allegiance to the United States of America, shall levy war against them, or shall adhere to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, and shall be thereof convicted, on confession in open court, or on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act of treason whereof he or they shall stand indicted, such person or persons shall be adjudged guilty of treason against the United States, and shall suffer death.Death2Misprision of treason[I]f any person or persons, having knowledge of the commission of any of the treasons aforesaid, shall conceal, and not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the president of the United States, or some one of the judges thereof, or to the president or governor of a particular state, or some one of the judges or justices thereof, such person or persons, on conviction, shall be adjudged guilty of misprision of treason, and shall be imprisoned not exceeding seven years, and fined not exceeding one thousand dollars.7 years and $1000None
Piracy and the high seas Article One provides that Congress shall have the power "[t]o define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas". art. I, § 8, cl. 10. Five sections in the Crimes Act "were devoted to the subject".Dickinson, 1924, at 343. Currie notes that the various piracy offenses "take an exceedingly broad view of what constituted piracy", but that "[f]rom a constitutional standpoint no harm was done, since all of the acts punished were felonious and Congress's power extended to all felonies on the high seas."Currie, 1994, at 831.
"The principal provisions with respect to piracy were incorporated in section 8." Section 8 applied not only to the "high Seas", but also to "any river, haven, basin, or bay, out of the jurisdiction of any particular State". Currie notes a variety of constitutional theories which Congress might have espoused in order to justify this provision: "Whether Congress thought authority over such places included within the ostensibly narrower term 'high Seas', necessary and proper to the regulation of commerce or to the exercise of admiralty jurisdiction, or implicit in a central government responsible for external affairs is not clear."Currie, 1994, at 832.
Currie also argues that the phrase "offence, which, if committed within the body of a county, would, by laws of the United States, be punishable with death" is vague. He suggests that it could refer to any federal law, to any state or federal law, or only to federal laws applicable to places under exclusive federal jurisdiction.Currie, 1994, at 831 n.333.