Opinion ID: 22760
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Federal-State Balance

Text: 44 Finally, Marek argues that the intention to alter the federal-state balance in this area ---- traditionally the province of state law enforcement ---- must be evidenced by unmistakable clarity. For the same reasons that we reject application of the rule of lenity ---- that (1) the statute is plain on its face, and (2) even if we concede for the sake of argument that there is some slight internal inconsistency in terminology, it is resolved by the statute's legislative history and title ---- we reject the notion that Congress has not spoken with sufficient clarity to criminalize conduct traditionally the subject of state criminal laws. 45 Like Marek's, the dissent's lament over the perceived trampling of states' rights misses the mark by the palpable failure to include a crucial observation: Under § 1958, federal authorities have nothing more than concurrent jurisdiction over the subset of murders-for-hire that bear the requisite nexus with interstate commerce. The legislative history plainly states that federal investigation and prosecution should be no more than an option to be used in appropriate cases to assist state and local authorities, and that Federal jurisdiction should be asserted selectively based on such factors as the type of defendants reasonably believed to be involved and the relative ability of the Federal and State authorities to investigate and prosecute. 56 46 The records in both of these cases eschew any possibility that federal authorities preemptively muscled aside local law enforcement; rather, federal law enforcement was invited by the locals to become involved. Cisneros first was tried and convicted of capital murder in state court. Only after a Texas appellate court reversed that conviction for insufficiency of the evidence did the state take the initiative and turn over her case to federal prosecutors. 57 As for Marek, a county sheriff's deputy tipped to her quest for a mercenary killer referred the case to the Texas Rangers, who in turn referred the case to the FBI. The two cases before us illustrate the very [c]ooperation and coordination between Federal and State officials that Congress intended that § 1958 foster. 58 The embodiment of such clear legislative intent in providing for concurrent jurisdiction and not preemption must not be overlooked in analogizing the extent of congressional intrusion into spheres of state and local law enforcement. With all due respect, we believe that the dissent would be well advised to pull back its states' rights argument. Failure to acknowledge that § 1958 creates concurrent jurisdiction only subjects the dissent's objectivity to question. For despite its power to preempt this area when regulating commerce, Congress exercised restraint and comity, in the true spirit of Federalism, by creating only concurrent jurisdiction.