Opinion ID: 460404
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: WHETHER SECTION 955a(c) VIOLATES DUE PROCESS?

Text: 35 The appellants further assert that the operation of section 955a(c) violates their constitutional right to due process. They contend that because persons aboard a vessel never know when it will be within a customs enforcement area the statute does not give fair notice of what conduct violates the law and what conduct does not. The due process clause of the fifth amendment requires that a statute be declared void if it is so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application. Connally v. General Constr. Co., 269 U.S. 385, 391, 46 S.Ct. 126, 127, 70 L.Ed. 322 (1926). Appellants also claim that the statute violates the constitutional prohibition of ex post facto laws because conduct does not constitute possession within customs waters until after the foreign government consents. Our decision in Romero-Galue specifically reserved the question of the constitutionality of section 955a(c). 757 F.2d at 1151. 36 There is a superficial appeal to the appellants' arguments. The criminal violation does require possession within customs waters and the appellants were not in customs waters until the foreign government consented. However, the statute is not an ex post facto law. An ex post facto law is a law which makes conduct, innocent when done before passage of the law, criminal. Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 386, 390, 1 L.Ed. 648 (1798); W. LaFave & A. Scott, Criminal Law, 89-90 (1972). Section 955a(c) does not apply retroactively to acts committed before it was passed; appellants' conduct in the current matter occurred well after enactment. 37 In asserting that the statute does not give fair warning of what conduct is forbidden, the appellants misunderstand both the congressional purpose and the basis of the statute in international law. To address their contentions, we must first discuss the purpose and basis of section 955a(c). 38 Romero-Galue determined that international law does not prohibit the enforcement scheme set forth in the Marijuana on the High Seas Act. 757 F.2d at 1154. We noted there that nothing prevents two nations from agreeing that the domestic law of one nation shall be extended into the high seas. Section 955a(c) requires consent by the foreign nation before enforcement of the United States law. Even absent consent, however, the United States could prosecute foreign nationals on foreign vessels under the protective principle of international law, id., which permits a nation to assert jurisdiction over a person whose conduct outside the nation's territory threatens the nation's security or could potentially interfere with the operation of its governmental functions. Id. at 1154. Congress grounded section 955a(c) on this principle. H.R.Rep. No. 323, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 7-8, 10, 12-13 (1979); Romero-Galue, 757 F.2d at 1154 n. 21. 39 Reliance on the protective principle is not a novel idea in American law. Indeed, the protective principle was the basis Congress cited for the Anti-Smuggling Act. S.Rep. No. 1036, 74th Cong. 1st Sess. 5 (1935). The Senate Report to that legislation noted that there is no fixed rule among the customs and usages of nations which prescribes the limits of jurisdictional waters other than the rule of reasonableness, that a nation may exercise authority upon the high seas to such an extent and to so great a distance as is reasonable and necessary to protect itself and its citizens from injury. Id. The Senate Report also noted the opinion of Chief Justice Marshall in Church v. Hubbart, 6 U.S. (2 Cranch) 187, 2 L.Ed. 249 (1804), which observed that [i]f this right be extended too far it will be resisted. Id. at 235. The Chief Justice was discussing enforcement of a common type of law in the days of mercantilism, a colonial power's prohibition against trade with its colonies by other nations. He stated that: 40 Thus in the channel, where a very great part of the commerce to and from all the north of Europe, passes through a very narrow sea, the seizure of vessels on suspicion of attempting an illicit trade, must necessarily be restricted to very narrow limits; but on the coast of South America, seldom frequented by vessels but for the purpose of illicit trade, the vigilance of the government may be extended somewhat further and foreign nations subject to such regulations as are reasonable in themselves and are really necessary.... 41 Id. at 235. Chief Justice Marshall's words are no less vital today. In the waters between certain areas of Latin America and our nation, nations judge what is reasonable in light of the massive drug trade in those waters. One need only glance at a map of the region and compare the vast length of United States coast to the narrow straits between Yucatan and Cuba (where the vessel was boarded in Romero-Galue, 757 F.2d at 1149) and the other narrow passages through the West Indies to understand the reasonableness of enforcing our drug laws outside of our territorial sea. Apparently, foreign nations such as Honduras recognize the reasonableness of current United States enforcement efforts, for consent has been given. 42 Congress' purpose in enacting section 955a was clearly stated. The Act was designed to prohibit all acts of illicit trafficking in controlled substances on the high seas which the United States can reach under international law. H.R.Rep. No. 323, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 11 (1979). Congress adopted section 955a(c) and relied on the protective principle because it is often difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a vessel seized on the high seas carrying contraband was headed for the United States. S.Rep. No. 855, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 1 (1979). The protective principle does not require that there be proof of an actual or intended effect inside the United States. The conduct may be forbidden if it has a potentially adverse effect and is generally recognized as a crime by nations that have reasonably developed legal systems. Restatement (Second) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States Sec. 33; 11 United States v. Marino-Garcia, 679 F.2d 1373, 1381 & n. 14 (11th Cir.1982). Congress has determined, therefore, that distribution of marijuana and other narcotics meets these criteria. Appellants do not contest the determination of Congress, nor do we believe there would be any basis to attack it. As noted above, that reasonable nations accept the authority advanced by Congress in section 955a(c) is demonstrated by the consent that has been given. 43 Congress faced a difficulty, however, in flexing fully its legal authority under the protective principle. Although Congress' planned extension of authority was reasonable, there was no need to risk unnecessary friction with foreign nations. Such friction would not stem from the extension of the United States' drug laws to foreign nationals on the high seas, but from the stopping and seizing of foreign vessels on the high seas. The legislative history reflects Congress' ambivalence between its respect for exclusive state flag jurisdiction on the one hand, and the long history of extra-territorial United States jurisdiction on the other. 12 In light of the fact that nations already were giving consent before passage of the law, 13 and considering the reasonableness of the law, Congress likely believed that obtaining consent would not unduly hinder enforcement efforts; it could achieve its enforcement goal and at the same time minimize any foreign objections. Accordingly, Congress borrowed the notion of customs waters and customs enforcement areas from the Anti-Smuggling Act; section 955a(c) would not be enforced without the consent of the foreign nation. The customs waters approach was adopted for these reasons and not because of any limitations on the authority of the United States in either international law or treaties. It is misleading, therefore, to consider that consent an element of the offense; rather, it is a diplomatic requisite illustrating the international partnership that ensures the rule of law on the high seas. The law will not be enforced on the high seas against a foreign nation's vessels without that nation's consent. 14 44 Our review of the basis and purpose of section 955a(c) convinces us that the appellants' due process contentions are illusory. There is nothing vague about the statute. Congress has provided clear notice of what conduct is forbidden: any possession of marijuana on the high seas with intent to distribute. The United States will enforce this law to the full extent of its ability under international law. Congress has afforded a legislative grace to our fellow nations by conditioning enforcement of the law upon their consent. This grace, however, does not create a notice problem. Both the offense and the intent of the United States are clear. Those embarking on voyages with holds laden with illicit narcotics, conduct which is contrary to laws of all reasonably developed legal systems, do so with the awareness of the risk that their government may consent to enforcement of the United States' laws against the vessel. Due process does not require that a person who violates the law of all reasonable nations be excused on the basis that his own nation might have requested that he not be prosecuted by a foreign sovereign. Accordingly we hold that appellants' challenge to the constitutionality of section 955a(c) is without merit.