WASHINGTON, D.C. 20540 THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Congressional Research Service FEDERAL HOMICIDE: PUBLIC FIGURES Murl Larkin May 15, 1978 THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Congressional Research Service WASHINGTON, D.C. 20540 FEDERAL HOMICIDE: PUBLIC FIGURES At the time of President Kennedy's assassination in November, 1963, there was curiously no federal criminal jurisdiction with respect to the assassination of a President of the United States. Although the Congress had legislated in other ways to protect the safety of the Chief Executive and other federal officers, and despite a number of efforts over the years to make the assassination of the President a federal crime, no statute had been enacted at the time which made the murder of, or even an attack upon, the President cognizable in federal courts. Had there been evidence supporting a conclusion that the shooting of President Kennedy was the result of a conspiracy, federal jurisdiction could have been asserted; it had long been a federal crime to conspire to injure any officer of the United States on account of the lawful discharge of the duties of his office, or while engaged in their lawful discharge. 18 U.S.C. 372, which was enacted in its present form March 4, 1909, provides: § 372. Conspiracy to impede or injure officer If two or more persons in any State, Territory, Possession, or District conspire to prevent, by force, intimidation, or threat, any person from accepting or holding any office, trust, or place of confidence under the United States, or from discharging any duties thereof, or to induce by like means any officer of the United States to leave the place, where his duties as an officer are required to be performed, or to injure him in his person or property on account of his lawful discharge of the duties of his office, or while engaged in the lawful discharge thereof, or to injure his property so as to molest, interrupt, hinder, or impede him in the discharge of his official duties, each of such persons shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than six years, or both. CRS-2 It is also anomalous that in 1963 a federal statute existed which did touch upon the safety of the President and other federal officers without making an attack upon the Chief Executive a crime. Thus, threats to take the life of or to inflict bodily harm upon the President and certain others was a crime under 18 U.S.C. 871, which was originally enacted February 14, 1917: § 871. Threats against President and successors to the Pres- (a) Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in (b) The terms "President-elect" and "Vice President-elect" as used in this section shall mean such persons as are the apparent successful candidates for the offices of President and Vice Presiient, respectively, as ascertained from the results of the general elections held to determine the electors of President and Vice President in accordance with title 3, United States Code, sections 1 and 2 The phrase "other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President" as used in this section shall mean the person next in the order of succession to act as President in accordance with title 3, United States Code, sections 19 and 20. Similarly, the killing of any one of a large number of officials of the United States engaged in law enforcement or corrections constituted a federal crime, provide only that the murder was accomplished on account of or while the official was engaged in the performance of his official duties. This statute as it existed in 1963 was 18 U.S.C. 1114 and read as follows: CRS-3 $1114. Protection of officers and employees of the United States. Whoever kills any judge of the United States, any United States Attorney, any Assistant United States Attorney, or any United States marshal or deputy marshal or person employed to assist such marshal or deputy marshal, any officer or employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice, any post-office inspector, any officer or employee of the secret service or of the Bureau of Narcotics, any officer or enlisted man of the Coast Guard, any officer or employee of any United States penal or correctional institution, any officer, employee or agent of the customs or of the internal revenue or any person assisting him in the execution of his duties, any immigration officer, any ofcer or employee of the Department of Agriculture or of the Department of the Interior designated by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior to enforce any Act of Congress for the protection, preservation, or restoration of game and other wild birds and animals, any employee of the Department of Agriculture designated by the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out any law or regulation, or to perform any function in connection with any Federal or State program or any program of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, or the District of Columbia, for the control or eradication or prevention of the introduction or dissemination of animal diseases, any ofcer or employee of the National Park Service, any officer or employee of, or assigned to duty, in the field service of the Bureau of Land Management, any employee of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture, or any officer or employee of the Indian field service of the United States, or any officer or employee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration directed to guard and protect property of the United States under the administration and control of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, while engaged in the performance of his official duties, or on account of the performance of his oficial duties, shall be punished as provided under sections 1111 and Hty of this title. CRS-4 Other crimes which were within federal jurisdiction in 1963 and related to the safety of public officials but were of lesser gravity included advocating the overthrow of the government by force or violence or by the assassination of any officer of the government, 18 U.S.C. 2385; conspiracy to threaten any citizen in the free exercise or enjoyment of his civil rights, 18 U.S.C. 241; and deprivation under color of law of the civil rights of any inhabitant of the United States, 18 U.S.C. 242. These provisions are set out below. § 2385. Advocating overthrow of Government Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage t overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or lence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such ciety, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes there Shall be fined not more than $20,000 or imprisoned not more than trenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the Tited States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction. If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in tris section, each shall be fined not more than $20,000 or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction. |