PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The governments of the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa share civil and criminal power with the United States over U.S. property those territories own, reserve, or control. If someone is convicted or found not guilty in a local court, the United States cannot try them again for the same acts, and the same is true the other way around. The President can take away that shared power for people, actions, or crimes on U.S. property run by the Secretary of Defense when he decides it is needed for national defense.

Title 48, §1704

Territories and Insular Possessions, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Except as otherwise provided by law, the governments of the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, shall have concurrent civil and criminal jurisdiction with the United States with regard to property owned, reserved, or controlled by the United States in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa respectively. A judgment of conviction or acquittal on the merits under the laws of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa shall be a bar to any prosecution under the criminal laws of the United States for the same act or acts, and a judgment of conviction or acquittal on the merits under the laws of the United States shall be a bar to any prosecution under the laws of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa for the same act or acts.

(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the President may from time to time exclude from the concurrent jurisdiction of the government of Guam persons found, acts performed, and offenses committed on the property of the United States which is under the control of the Secretary of Defense to such extent and in such circumstances as he finds required in the interest of the national defense.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The criminal laws of the United States, referred to in subsec. (a), are classified generally to Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

Amendments

1986—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–396 amended first sentence generally. Prior to amendment, first sentence read as follows: “Except as otherwise provided in this section, the governments of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, as the case may be, shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the United States over parties found, acts performed, and offenses committed on property owned, reserved, or controlled by the United States in Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.”

§1704 Concurrent Jurisdiction; Exceptions for National Defense Purposes