Territorial (area) jurisdiction

expression; and if the incidental restriction on alleged First Amendment freedoms

is no greater than is essential to the furtherance of that interest."

The

defendant's final argument was that the bar letter was inoperative, since he had

been invited to attend the open house. The Court disagreed:

"The fact that (the defendant) had previously received a valid bar letter

distinguished him from the general public and provided a reasonable

grounds for excluding him from the base.

That justification did not

become less weighty when other persons were allowed to enter...Where a bar

letter is issued on valid grounds, a person may not claim immunity from

its prohibition on entry merely because the military has temporarily

opened a military facility to the public."

QUESTION:

CAN THE PROVOST MARSHAL OR COMPANY COMMANDER ISSUE SUCH A LETTER?

ANSWER:

NO.

IT MUST BE SIGNED BY THE POST COMMANDER.

Territorial (area) jurisdiction.

a. General.

We have already seen that our military police may apprehend

civilians on post. As we will see shortly, there is no court-martial jurisdiction

over civilians, except during times of declared war.

If the military cannot

prosecute the offender the question is simple: who can? Obviously, if the answer

is "nobody," we have a very serious problem--civilians could commit crimes on post

with immunity. Fortunately, that is not the case. Civilians who commit crimes on

post ARE subject to criminal prosecution.

The question is: By who?

First, they

may be subject to prosecution by the federal government for the violation of

federal criminal law. The federal criminal law is called the United States Code.

Title 18 contains the main body of federal criminal law.

Another possibility is that the civilian may be subject to prosecution by

the state authorities for a violation of state law. The problem is: how do you

tell which it is?

The answer depends on what sort of territorial (area)

jurisdiction that may exist on post. Note that several different areas may exist

on a single installation.

b. Exclusive federal jurisdiction.

This means that the federal government

has all of the authority here, "with no reservation by the state of any authority

except the right to serve civil and criminal process." (DA Pam 27-21, paragraph 2-

5(b)(1).)

Stated simply, the federal government has the power to prosecute an

offender for a violation of federal law committed here; the state, however, does

not have the power to prosecute here. Federal law applies here, but state law does

not.

If a civilian commits a crime here, then he can be prosecuted by the U.S.

Government for a violation of the U.S. Code.

The state, on the other hand, will

not have the power to prosecute for a violation of state law.

1-21

MP1018