In the context of criminal law, there are many actions that constitute crimes against both the state where the crime is committed and against the United States of America. Although in theory, under the Separate Sovereignty Doctrine, you could be prosecuted in both Court systems, in practice, you will almost certainly be prosecuted in only one or the other. In these circumstances, the Federal system, acting like "Big Brother," usually exercises its jurisdictions only over the largest of the cases, leaving the smaller cases to the State prosecutors. The area where this is most frequently a concern is in narcotics cases where the possession, importation or sale and delivery violate both State and Federal drug statutes. In recent years we see more of this in the area of internet crimes such as the transmission and possession of child pornography.

Using the drop down menu, we invite you to learn a little about several of these areas of federal criminal jurisdiction.