The law of the United States consists of many levels^[1] of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States. The Constitution sets out the boundaries of federal law, which consists of constitutional acts of Congress, constitutional treaties ratified by Congress, constitutional regulations promulgated by the executive branch, and case law originating from the federal judiciary.

The Constitution and federal law are the supreme law of the land, thus circumscribing state and territorial laws in the fifty U.S. states and in the territories.^[2] In the unique dual-sovereign system of American federalism (actually tripartite when one includes Indian reservations), states are the plenary sovereigns, while the federal sovereign possesses only the limited supreme authority enumerated in the Constitution. Indeed, states may grant their citizens broader rights than the federal Constitution as long as they do not infringe on any federal constitutional rights.^[3] Thus, most U.S. law (especially the actual "living law" of contract, tort, criminal, and family law experienced by the majority of citizens on a day-to-day basis) consists primarily of state law, which can and does vary greatly from one state to the next.^[4][5]

At both the federal and state levels, the law of the United States was originally largely derived from the common law system of English law, which was in force at the time of the Revolutionary War.^[6][7] However, U.S. law has diverged greatly from its English ancestor both in terms of substance and procedure, and has incorporated a number of civil law innovations.

Federal law originates with the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to enact statutes for certain limited purposes like regulating interstate commerce. Nearly all statutes have been codified in the United States Code. Many statutes give executive branch agencies the power to create regulations, which are published in the Federal Register and codified into the Code of Federal Regulations. Regulations generally also carry the force of law under the Chevron doctrine. Many lawsuits turn on the meaning of a federal statute or regulation, and judicial interpretations of such meaning carry legal force under the principle of stare decisis.

In the United States, state law is the law of each separate U.S. state, as passed by the state legislature (and signed into law by the state governor). It exists in parallel, and sometimes in conflict with, United States federal law. These disputes are often resolved by the federal courts.

CRIME

Crime statistics for the United States are published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Uniform Crime Reports which represents crimes reported to the police. The Bureau of Justice Statistics conducts the annual National Crime Victimization Survey which captures crimes not reported to the police.

The country's overall crime rate is displayed in two indices. The violent crime index comprises homicide, forcible rape, robbery and assault. The property crime index consists of burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Statistics for index offenses are generally available for the country as a whole, all fifty states and all communities within the United States with 10,000 or more residents.

The crime rate is measured by the number of offenses being reported per 100,000 people. While the crime rate had risen sharply in the late 1960s and early 1970s, bringing it to a constant all-time high during much of the 1980s, it has drastically declined ever since 1993. One hypothesis suggests there is a causal link between legalized abortion and the drop in crime during the 1990s.^[2] Another possibility is the introduction of the Three Strikes Law in 1993 by state governments which saw felony offenders who committed a third offence receive life imprisonment.

In 2004 America's crime rate was roughly the same as in 1970, with the homicide rate being at its lowest level since 1965. Overall, the national crime rate was 4982 crimes per 100,000 residents, down from 4852 crimes per 100,000 residents thirty years earlier in 1974 (-17.6%).^[3]

Authority as a law enforcement agency

USCG helicopter firing warning shots at smugglers in a boat.<^[2]

14 U.S.C. § 2 authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce federal law. This authority is further defined in 14 U.S.C. § 89 which gives law enforcement powers to all Coast Guard commissioned officers, warrant officers, and petty officers. Unlike the other branches of the United States Armed Forces which are prevented from acting in a law enforcement capacity by the Posse Comitatus Act and Department of Defense policy, under 18 U.S.C. § 1385 the Coast Guard is exempt from and not subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act.

Further law enforcement authority is given by 14 U.S.C. § 143 and 19 U.S.C. § 1401 which empower U.S. Coast Guard Active and Reserve commissioned officers, warrant officers, and petty officers as federal customs officers. This places them under 19 U.S.C. § 1589a, which grants customs officers general law enforcement authority, including the authority to:

(1) carry a firearm;
(2) execute and serve any order, warrant, subpoena, summons, or other process issued under the authority of the United States;
(3) make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the officer's presence or for a felony, cognizable under the laws of the United States committed outside the officer's presence if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony; and
(4) perform any other law enforcement duty that the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office Report to the House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary on its 2006 Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities identified the U.S. Coast Guard as one of 104 federal components employed which employed law enforcement officers.^[9] The Report also included a summary table of the authorities of the U.S. Coast Guard's 192 special agents and 3,780 maritime law enforcement boarding officers.^[10]

Coast Guardsmen have the legal authority to carry their service-issued firearms on and off base. This is rarely done in practice, however; at many Coast Guard stations, commanders prefer to have all service-issued weapons in armories. Still, one court has held that Coast Guard boarding officers are qualified law enforcement officers authorized to carry personal firearms off-duty for self-defense.^[11]

The United States Department of Justice (often referred to as the Justice Department or DOJ), is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.

The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is a member of the Cabinet. The current Attorney General is Eric Holder.

The FBI's main goal is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners.^[3]

Currently, the FBI's top investigative priorities are:^[4]

1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack (see counter-terrorism);

2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage (see counter-intelligence);

3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes (see cyber-warfare);

4. Combat public corruption at all levels;

5. Protect civil rights;

6. Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises (see organized crime);

7. Combat major white-collar crime;

8. Combat significant violent crime;

9. Upgrade technology for successful performance of the FBI's mission.

In August 2007, the top categories of lead criminal charges resulting from FBI investigations were:^[5]

1. Bank robbery and incidental crimes (107 charges)

2. Drugs (104 charges)

3. Attempt and conspiracy (81 charges)

4. Material involving sexual exploitation of minors (53 charges)

5. Mail fraud - frauds and swindles (51 charges)

6. Bank fraud (31 charges)

7. Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses (22 charges)

8. Fraud by wire, radio, or television (20 charges)

9. Hobbs Act (Robbery and extortion affecting interstate commerce) (17 charges)

10. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)-prohibited activities (17 charges)

United States Attorneys (also known as federal prosecutors and, historically, as United States District Attorneys^[1][2][3]) represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. One U.S. Attorney is assigned to each of the judicial districts, with the exception of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands where a single U.S. Attorney serves both districts. Each U.S. Attorney is the chief federal law enforcement officer within his or her particular jurisdiction, acting under the guidance of the United States Attorneys' Manual.^[4] They supervise district offices of as many as 350 assistant United States attorneys, with as many as 350 more support personnel.^[5] U.S. Attorneys and their offices are part of the Department of Justice. U.S. Attorneys receive oversight, supervision and administrative support services through the Justice Department's Executive Office for United States Attorneys. Selected U.S. Attorneys participate in the Attorney General's Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys.

Attorneys

In order to represent a party in a case in a district court, a person must be an Attorney at law and generally must be admitted to the bar of that particular court. The United States usually does not have a separate bar examination for federal practice (except with respect to patent practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office). Admission to the bar of a district court is generally granted as a matter of course to any attorney who is admitted to practice law in the state where the district court sits.^[15] The attorney submits his application with a fee and takes the oath of admission. Local practice varies as to whether the oath is given in writing or in open court before a judge of the district.

Several district courts require attorneys seeking admission to their bars to take an additional bar examination on federal law, including the following: the Southern District of Ohio,^[16] the Northern and Southern Districts of Florida,^[17][18] and the District of Puerto Rico.^[19]

In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution.

In addition to the Supreme Court of the United States, whose existence and some aspects of whose jurisdiction are beyond the constitutional power of Congress to alter, acts of Congress have established 13 courts of appeals (also called "circuit courts") with appellate jurisdiction over different regions of the United States, and 94 United States district courts. Every judge appointed to such a court falls within the category of federal judges. These include the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, Circuit Judges of the courts of appeals, and district judges of the United States district courts. In addition, judges of the Court of International Trade are appointed pursuant to Article III.

Other judges serving in the federal courts, including magistrate judges and bankruptcy judges, are also sometimes referred to as "federal judges." However, they are not appointed pursuant to the procedures designated in Article III. The distinction is sometimes expressed by saying that they are not "Article III judges," because the power of these other kinds of federal judges does not derive from Article III of the U.S. Constitution. See Article I and Article III tribunals.

In the United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist United States district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges are authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 631 et seq.

While federal district judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate for lifetime tenure, magistrate judges are appointed by a majority vote of the federal district judges of a particular court and serve terms of eight years if full-time, or four years if part-time, and may be reappointed. As of January 2009, Congress has authorized 466 full-time and 60 part-time magistrate judgeships, and three positions combining magistrate judge and clerk of court.^[1]

Magistrate judges are sometimes considered "federal judges" and sometimes are not. To more clearly distinguish between magistrate judges and district court judges, magistrate judges, bankruptcy judges, and certain other judges of limited tenure are sometimes referred to as being "Article I judges," or "Article IV judges in case of United States territorial court," while lifetime-tenure district court and courts of appeals judges and Supreme Court justices are referred to as "Article III judges." This stems from the United States Constitution, in which Article III establishes judges who "shall hold their Offices during good Behavior"—i.e., for until death, retirement, or elevation to a higher court except in cases of impeachment—and Article I allows Congress to establish courts and judgeships of limited jurisdiction and with fewer privileges, whose decisions are appealable to the Article III courts).

Magistrate judges conduct a wide range of judicial proceedings to expedite the disposition of the civil and criminal caseloads of the district courts. Congress set forth in the statute powers and responsibilities that could be delegated by district court judges to magistrate judges. To achieve maximum flexibility in meeting the needs of each court, however, it left the actual determination of which duties to assign to magistrate judges to the individual courts.

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