671
Great Lakes Jurisdiction
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Also included within the "special territorial and maritime
jurisdiction
of the United States" by 18 U.S.C. § 7(2) are the Great Lakes and their
connecting waterways. American nationality of the vessel is a prerequisite
to
jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 7(2). See United States v.
Tanner, 471 F.2d 128, 140 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 949
(1972). Jurisdiction may, however, attach to foreign vessels on the Great
Lakes,
under 18 U.S.C. § 7(1), unless they are within harbors or waterways in
the
body of a state. Id. at 141. Federal jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C.
§
7(2) over American vessels is not affected by the existence of concurrent
state
jurisdiction. Again, it is usually the policy of the Department to defer to
the
state when it will undertake prosecution. Jurisdiction follows American
vessels
into Canadian waters. See S.Rep. No. 2917, 51st Cong., 1st Sess.
1890;
see also United States v. Rodgers, 150 U.S. 249 (1893)
reaching the
same result under the predecessor of 18 U.S.C. § 7(l) in a case
involving an
offense committed before enactment of the predecessor of 18 U.S.C. §
7(2).
Venue for offenses on the open seas and connecting waters of the
Great
Lakes will be governed by 18 U.S.C. § 3238 unless committed within the
recognized boundaries of a state. See United States v.
Peterson,
64 F. Supp. 145 (E.D.Wis. 1894).
[cited in USAM 9-20.100] | |