Criminal Law-Criminal Justice in the Federal Court System
The procedure by which a criminal case is handled in the federal court is not dramatically different than that described above for the state courts. Within the federal court system, there are a specific set of rules called the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure that govern the conduct of a criminal case. Within the federal system, the law enforcement agency initiating the prosecution is a federal law enforcement agency such as the F.B.I., Secret Service, or other federal agency rather than being a local police department. Cases in federal court will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office that operates within that federal district. Crimes that are committed within that federal district will be tried in the U.S. District Court that has jurisdiction for that federal district, and will be subject to appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals that covers that federal district.
One of the distinguishing features of the federal courts is that they are courts of limited jurisdiction. However, Congress over the last several years has enacted federal criminal statutes dealing with such things as carjacking and nonpayment of child support. Those traditionally have been offenses that would have been governed exclusively by state law and prosecuted exclusively in state court. Because Congress has passed federal legislation dealing with those issues, they may now also be prosecuted in federal court. The expanding criminal jurisdiction of the federal courts has been slow moving but fairly steady over the last several years. Our founding fathers would probably say that this ever expanding scope of federal legislation is contrary to their intent.
