The crime of kidnapping is never a federal crime, unless it might occur "on the high Seas," or "against the Law of Nations."Speaker to Animals wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:13 amI thought kidnapping is only federal when you cross state lines.
Never. The federal government has no authority to prosecute the crime of kidnapping otherwise.
We expect each state to have kidnapping criminal statutes to deal with kidnapping offenses that occur in multiple states (or nations). We also know that every state must extradite criminal defendants to other states when criminals flee or cross state borders while committing the crime.
The federalization of the criminal law is nothing more than a sheer power grab by the federal city and its clients.
The federal government likewise has ZERO authority to prosecute drug crimes (other than importation of liquor crimes defined in the 21st amendment), or almost any of the other crimes it runs its mafia with.
Listen to the 30 minute podcast from McClanahan I put up in the OP. He gives a nice quick survey of how we wound up where we are today, with the federal government bigfooting its way into the prosecution of the Pittsburgh murders. I'm sure the CIA wouldn't have it any other way.
The original constitution gave the federal government authority to prosecute exactly FOUR crimes:
1. Treason
2. Piracy on the high seas
3. Counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States
4. Offences against the Law of Nations
The first three aren't hard for a current layperson (or expert lawyer apparently) to understand.
The "Law of Nations" had a very specific meaning in 1788.
After 1788, the 13th amendment made slavery illegal nationally, and the 21st made it a federal crime to import liquor into one of the states against that state's internal law.Art. I Sec. 8 Cl. 10 of the Constitution for the United States delegates the power to Congress to "define and punish ... Offenses against the Law of Nations". It is important to understand what is and is not included in the term of art "law of nations", and not confuse it with "international law". They are not the same thing. The phrase "law of nations" is a direct translation of the Latin jus gentium, which means the underlying principles of right and justice among nations, and during the founding era was not considered the same as the "laws", that is, the body of treaties and conventions between nations, the jus inter gentes, which, combined with jus gentium, comprise the field of "international law". The distinction goes back to ancient Roman Law.
Briefly, the Law of Nations at the point of ratification in 1788 included the following general elements, taken from Blackstone's Commentaries, and prosecution of those who might violate them:
(1) No attacks on foreign nations, their citizens, or shipping, without either a declaration of war or letters of marque and reprisal.
(2) Honoring of the flag of truce, peace treaties, and boundary treaties. No entry across national borders without permission of national authorities.
(3) Protection of wrecked ships, their passengers and crew, and their cargo, from depredation by those who might find them.
(4) Prosecution of piracy by whomever might be able to capture the pirates, even if those making the capture or their nations had not been victims.
(5) Care and decent treatment of prisoners of war.
(6) Protection of foreign embassies, ambassadors, and diplomats, and of foreign ships and their passengers, crew, and cargo while in domestic waters or in port.
(7) Honoring of extradition treaties for criminals who committed crimes in a nation with whom one has such a treaty who escape to one's territory or are found on the high seas.
And, although it was not yet firmly established with all nations in 1788,
(8) Prohibition of enslavement of foreign nationals and international trading in slaves.
https://www.constitution.org/cmt/law_of_nations.htm
That's and that's all, kiddos. Anything else that is sold to you as a "federal crime" is just a strong-arm mafia gag.
