Court Opinion

ID: 9490917
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:58:33.46667+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:23.733183
License: Public Domain

RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The Court makes good arguments, and I am almost persuaded, but on the whole I find the opinion of the Fourth Circuit in United States v. Juvenile Male No. 1, 86 F.3d 1314, 1317-21 (4th Cir.1996), more persuasive.
Presumably every federal prosecution is believed by the United States Attorney who brings it to embody a “substantial Federal interest.” Requesting an indictment, in some sense, amounts to a certification in every case that such an interest exists. The statute at issue here, however, in expressly requiring that “a substantial Federal inter*910est” be certified, in addition to other possible factors, must mean something more. The legislative history of the statute recognizes that most prosecutions of juveniles should be in state courts. Federal prosecutions are an exception. See S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 2nd Sess. 389, reprinted in 1984 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad. News 3182, 3529. I would agree that our review of such a certification should be extremely deferential, but I cannot agree that this particular use of executive power is wholly beyond judicial correction.
It may be proper to add that, in the present case, in response to an inquiry from the bench, the United States gave an entirely plausible basis for its certification. Cases in which such a certification would be rejected by the courts would be extremely rare. I doubt that the present case would be among them.