Other Trials

                The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article III, Section 2, and Clause 3:  “When [a crime is] not committed within any state, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.”  This provision in the Constitution states that Congress will designate the place of trials of any crimes committed outside of any state, such as territories or on the open sea.

                W. Cleon Skousen explained, “In the Northwest Ordinance, passed in 1787 – the same year the Constitution was written – Congress had provided for the administrative affairs of the one major territory that was under its jurisdiction at that time.  However, there were other regions for which no provision was made.  In the above section the Founders indicated that any judicial questions outside of any state or on the high seas should be settled in a manner dictated by Congress” (The Making of America – The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 621).