The offices of U.S. Marshal and Deputy U.S. Marshal were created by the Judiciary Act of 1789, the same law that erected the federal judicial system. The Judiciary Act provided for one U.S. marshal for each judicial district. Each marshal was empowered to hire as many deputy marshals as necessary, including the deputation of able-bodied citizens for special situations, such as posses. Originally, President George Washington nominated and the Senate confirmed thirteen U.S. marshals, one for each of the eleven states and one each for the districts of Kentucky (a territory in 1789) and Maine (a part of Massachusetts until 1820). As the nation expanded across the continent and acquired new territories, more judicial districts were added. As of 2005, there were ninety-four districts, each with its own presidentially appointed U.S. marshal, and more than 3,344 deputy marshals and criminal investigators.
As defined by the Judiciary Act of 1789, the marshals administered the federal courts, acting primarily as the disbursement officers. More important, the marshals were empowered to execute ”all lawful precepts issued under the authority of the United States.” These two duties, particularly the latter, have remained essentially unchanged for more than two hundred years, although the specific work of the marshals has changed considerably in response to changing circumstances and laws.
The marshals continue, as they have since 1789, to protect the operation of the federal court and its participants, to produce its prisoners and witnesses, and to enforce its orders. For most of this nation’s history, the marshals, working in close cooperation with U.S. attorneys, provided the only nationwide law enforcement authority available to the federal government. Until well into the twentieth century, the marshals executed all arrest warrants, regardless of which agency conducted the initial investigation.
When new territories were established, marshals were appointed to provide a federal presence. In Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) and the territory of Alaska, marshals were essentially the only law enforcement authority. More than one hundred deputy marshals were killed enforcing the law in the Indian Territory between 1872 and 1896. It was during this period after the Civil War that the marshals earned their place in American folklore as lawmen.
Until 1853, U.S. marshals worked under the general supervision of the secretary of state, who established guidelines for the office, issued specific instructions, and coordinated the marshals’ activities. Beginning in 1853, marshals increasingly came under the control of the attorney general, a process that was completed in 1861 by congressional statute. The marshals remained decentralized, with each marshal reporting directly to the attorney general.
In 1956, the Justice Department established the Executive Office of U.S. Marshals to centralize administrative responsibilities. In 1962, James J. P. McShane was appointed the first chief marshal, with limited supervision of the other marshals. The turmoil of the 1960s, particularly the problems the marshals confronted enforcing civil rights court decisions, pointed out the need for further centralized control. By 1969, the U.S. Marshals Service was created, with an office of director. Despite this move toward a nationally cohesive law enforcement agency, today’s U.S. marshals retain considerable power within their districts, acting as local managers within a national organization to ensure that the duties assigned the Marshals Service are conducted efficiently and effectively.
As federal law enforcement officers, marshals retain the broadest authority and jurisdiction. Their congressionally defined duty to execute ”all lawful precepts issued under the authority of the United States” allows them to respond to orders from the federal courts, the president and attorney general, and Congress. During the 1960s, deputy marshals effectively desegregated the nation’s schools and colleges under numerous court orders. In 1973, acting under orders of the attorney general, the Marshals Service besieged members of the American Indian Movement who had occupied the small hamlet of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, during the longest civil disturbance since the Civil War. Congressional precepts issued to marshals have included such different activities as taking the national census from 1790 through 1870, controlling enemy aliens in times of war, and supervising congressional elections from 1879 to 1894.
Today’s U.S. Marshals Service carries out a wide variety of responsibilities. U.S. marshals provide the physical security for federal courthouses. Whenever necessary, deputy marshals protect federal judges and attorneys who have been threatened with bodily harm. In fiscal year 2004, for example, the Marshals Service evaluated 674 inappropriate communications/threats made to federal judicial employees. The Marshals Service also operates the Witness Security Program to protect witnesses, even to the extent of giving them new identities, in exchange for their testimony against organized crime. Since 1970, more than 7,700 witnesses have entered the program.
As they have for more than two hundred years, U.S. marshals have custody of all federal prisoners from the time of arrest until the prisoner’s acquittal or delivery to prison. These federal prisoners are housed under contract in local jails or facilities, escorted to and from court by marshals. During fiscal year 2004, more than 290,000 federal prisoner movements took place via the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS). The JPATS is a complex transportation network of aircraft, buses, and vans, further complicated by the need to provide tight security over the prisoners.
The Marshals Service also has responsibility for the arrest of federal fugitives, a traditional duty that was briefly transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation but was returned to the marshals in 1979. To combat this immense problem, the Marshals Service expends considerable daily effort to capture them, averaging 36,000 arrests nationwide each year, more than all other federal law enforcement agencies combined.
Periodically, the Marshals Service establishes fugitive task force operations, working in close cooperation with state and local law enforcement agencies. The specific purpose of these task forces is to provide intense fugitive hunts in specific locations for specific periods of time. An example is ”Operation Falcon,” conducted during a one-week period in April 2005.
The Marshals Service led this task force operation, working in conjunction with state, local, and other federal agencies, which arrested 10,340 fugitives in a nationwide sweep and cleared more than 13,800 felony warrants.
The marshals’ traditional responsibility to seize property under court order was expanded under the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. This act gave the marshals responsibility to seize all assets accruing to criminals as a result of illegal, drug-related activities. These assets, which range from houses and businesses to racehorses and yachts, are managed by the Marshals Service until the courts decide their ultimate disposal. Currently, the Marshals Service manages assets valued at more than $964 million.
For more than two hundred years, the U.S. marshals have acted as the hub of the federal judicial system, administering its finances, handling its prisoners, serving its processes, protecting its functions and personnel, enforcing its orders, and working with other law enforcement agencies to ensure the supremacy of the law in this country. Marshals continue to play an essential role in the operation of justice. The marshals have, during the past two centuries, evolved into a centralized, cohesive law enforcement agency, populated with highly trained, professional personnel dedicated to law enforcement. In an age of specialization, U.S. marshals and their deputies remain the last of the generalists, fully capable of carrying out an incredibly complex array of duties.
See also: American Policing: Early Years; Federal Police and Investigative Agencies; History of American Policing.
References:
- Ball, Larry D. 1978. The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
- Calhoun, Frederick S. 1990. The Lawmen: United States Marshals and their deputies, 1789-1989. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.