Federal crimes are those crimes which fall under federal jurisdiction. Congress enacts laws in areas that fall within federal jurisdiction. Typically, these are laws and regulations dealing with federal property, federal matters and federal taxes. Additionally, there are significant federal crime laws governing interstate commerce.
There are two scenarios which lead to the filing of a criminal case in federal court:
(1) An alleged violation of federal law
(2) Where the alleged crime took place on federal property, even if it involves a violation of state law
Acts committed on federal property may violate either state or federal laws as well, although they will always be prosecuted in federal court by virtue of the fact that they occurred on federal property. If an act committed on federal property violates state law only, it will be prosecuted in federal court under the substantive law of the state where it occurred, although federal rules and procedures will apply.
Actions which violate both state and federal laws may be prosecuted in either, or both, state and federal jurisdictions without violating the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy.
Federal crimes are set out in the federal criminal code which contains over 120 categories of crimes. These are mostly set forth in Title 18 of the United States Code. Title 18 contains the federal rules of criminal procedure, which set forth the rules which govern the handling of criminal cases from start to finish. Criminal laws have been increasingly "federalized." More and more are offenses subject to federal prosecution.
The most common type of federal cases that occur in California include the following:
§ Child pornography
§ Controlled substance violations
§ Counterfeiting
§ Crimes which occur on federal property or in federal buildings
§ Crimes involving banks (larceny or robbery)
§ Gun laws (such as a felon in possession of a firearm)
§ Immigration law violations
§ Mail or wire fraud
§ Postal offenses
How the Federal Process is Different from State Process
Grand Jury
The grand jury is made up of 14-23 people, selected from the community in the area where the federal court is located. They meet in secret closed meetings to decide whether enough adequate proof exists in order to make a finding of probable cause to hold the defendant over for trial. Only a simple majority of the grand jurors need to find probable cause for an indictment to be issued. An indictment is the name used for the formal charging document. If the defendant is indicted by the grand jury, there is no preliminary examination and the defendant is arraigned on the indictment. As before, this arraignment merely consists of the defendant being told of the charges in the indictment and of the defendant's entry of a plea. The case is then assigned to a district judge for motions and trial setting.
Bail
When someone is arrested for a federal crime, they are held in custody until they are brought before a magistrate judge. The magistrate judge will then set conditions of release, including a bail amount.
Unlike arrests for state law crimes, there isn’t an option to go to a bail bondsman and post a bail to get released. Usually bail will require either: a signature bond, where the defendant or a number of relatives or close friends will promise to pay money if the defendant fails to appear or violates the other conditions of his release, or a cash deposit, or posting real estate as security for his or her release.
Sentencing
The federal crime sentencing guidelines are a series of sentencing rules established by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Sentencing in federal crime cases are determined by two things: the statute of conviction, which sets the maximum penalty in the form of a fine or imprisonment and the federal crime sentencing guidelines.
Once sentenced, the defendant must serve time in a federal penal institution. The defendant will ultimately be given credit for any time served up to the sentencing date. There is no parole in the federal system, but if a person behaves well in custody, he or she can receive 15% credit for every year he is to serve. If the defendant is a United States citizen, he or she will spend the last 6 months in a halfway house. Halfway housing offers housing to federal inmates in order to make a transition back into society. Once released, they will be put on supervised release for a period of time set by the sentencing judge. Supervised release is like probation, but if the terms of release the person can be returned to custody for up to the maximum of the term of supervised release. Unlike a sentence, there is no credit for the time previously spent in custody.
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