United States v. Dreos

156 F. Supp. 200, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2760
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedOctober 11, 1957
DocketCrim. 23812
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 156 F. Supp. 200 (United States v. Dreos) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Dreos, 156 F. Supp. 200, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2760 (D. Md. 1957).

Opinion

THOMSEN, Chief Judge.

The information in this case charges that: “On or about the 15th day of August, 1956, in Prince George’s County, in the State and District of Maryland, George C. Dreos did, on lands reserved or defined for use of the United States and under the concurrent jurisdiction of the United States and the State of Maryland, to wit, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, operate a motor vehicle * * * at a rate of speed exceeding fifty-five (55) miles per hour. U.S.C. Title 18, Sections 7(3) and 13, Annotated Code of Maryland, (1951), Art. 66%, Sec. 176.” 1

*202 Defendant, a lawyer, raises three issues: (1) jurisdiction, (2) use of radar equipment in determining the speed of the car, and (3) proof of criminal intent.

(1) Defendant states the first issue as follows:

“Whether this Court has jurisdiction of this case in view of the provision of the U. S. Constitution, to wit: Article I, Section 8, Clause 17, which provides that ‘the Federal Government shall exercise exclusive legislation * * * over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings’ and Article 4 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of Maryland which provides, ‘That the people of this State have the sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof, as a free sovereign and independent State’?”

He concedes that the Government properly acquired legal title to the land upon which the Washington half of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway was built, over which he is charged with speeding, and concedes that the term “building” in Art. I, sec. 8, clause 17 includes “whatever structures are found to be necessary in the performance of the functions of the federal government”. James v. Dravo Contracting Co., 302 U.S. 134, 58 S.Ct. 208, 213, 82 L.Ed. 155. He contends, however, that highway roadbeds are not structures and that the Federal Government did not acquire either exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction over the land condemned for the construction of the parkway.

. Defendant’s statement of the issue is too narrow. For the reasons set out below, concurrent legislative jurisdiction in the United States sufficient to justify the enactment and enforcement of the law under which defendant is prosecuted in this case may be sustained either under Art. I, sec. 8, clause 17, quoted above, or under Art. IV, sec. 3, clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States, which reads as follows:

“The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.”

The problem of jurisdiction over federal areas within the states is difficult and complicated. It is the subject of a recent two volume report entitled “Jurisdiction over Federal Areas within the States”, prepared by an Interdepartmental Committee and published by the Government Printing Office, vol. 1 in 1956 and vol. 2 in 1957. This report considers at great length the legislative, administrative and judicial history of the problem over the years, and analyzes the present situation in the several states with respect to land acquired and held by the Federal Government for various purposes. I will not repeat that historical discussion, but will refer only to the Federal and State statutes which affect this case.

*203 The Baltimore-Washington Parkway is divided into two roughly equal parts. The Baltimore half was built by the State of Maryland on land owned by the State; the Washington half was built by the Federal Government on land owned by the United States.

The Washington half, comprising a small portion within the District of Columbia and a much larger portion within the territorial boundaries of the State of Maryland, is regarded as an extension of the park system of the District of Columbia and its environs; it was constructed and developed and is administered and maintained by the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, subject to the provisions of the Act of Congress of Aug. 25, 1916, 39 Stat. 535, 5 U.S.C.A. § 485, the provisions of which were extended over and made applicable to the parkway by the Act of Aug. 3, 1950, 64 Stat. 400. See also 16 U.S.C.A. §§ le, 2, 3, and 40 U.S.C.A. §§ 70 to 74, together with notes and annotations thereto.

The parkway passes through areas acquired by the Federal Government at different times and for different purposes, so the several areas do not have the same legislative jurisdictional status. Portions of the land on which the parkway was built were acquired originally by the War Department (where the road passes through Fort George G. Meade), by the Department of Agriculture (near Beltsville), and by the Resettlement Division (near Greenbelt). The portion on which the offense charged in this case occurred was acquired in 1944 through condemnation proceedings in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Civil No. 2272. 2

Before 1943 the Maryland Code contained the three sections quoted below, which were enacted by chap. 743 of the Acts of 1906. They are now codified as sees. 31, 35 and 36 of Art. 96 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, 1951 ed.

“31. The consent of the State of Maryland is hereby given in accordance with the seventeenth *204 clause, eighth section of the first article of the constitution of the United States, to the acquisition by the United States by purchase, condemnation or otherwise of any land in this State required for sites for custom houses, courthouses, post-offices, arsenals or other public buildings whatever, or for any other purposes of the government.”
“35. Exclusive jurisdiction in and over any land so acquired by the United States shall be and the same is hereby ceded to the United States for all purposes except the service upon such sites of all civil and criminal process of the courts of this State, but the jurisdiction so ceded shall continue no longer than the said United States shall own such lands.”
“36. The jurisdiction ceded shall not vest until the United States shall have acquired the title to said lands by purchase, condemnation or otherwise; and so long as the said lands shall remain the property of the United States when acquired as aforesaid, and no longer, the sáme shall be and continue exempt and exonerated from all State, county and municipal taxation, assessment, or other charges which may be levied or imposed under the authority of this State.”

In 1943 the Maryland Legislature passed two acts, chap. 644, now codified as sec. 32 of Art. 96, and chap. 687, now codified as sec. 46. They provide:

“32.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Kim
902 F. Supp. 2d 763 (D. Maryland, 2012)
United States v. Robson
391 F. Supp. 2d 383 (D. Maryland, 2005)
United States v. Sauls
981 F. Supp. 909 (D. Maryland, 1997)
Hansford v. District of Columbia
617 A.2d 1057 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1993)
Bryant v. Taylor
797 F. Supp. 456 (D. Maryland, 1992)
United States v. Donald L. Smith
946 F.2d 888 (Fourth Circuit, 1991)
Fitzwater v. State
469 A.2d 909 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1984)
Commonwealth v. Whynaught
384 N.E.2d 1212 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1979)
Reed v. State
372 A.2d 243 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1977)
United States v. Ridling
350 F. Supp. 90 (E.D. Michigan, 1972)
State v. Gerdes
191 N.W.2d 428 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1971)
United States v. Lopez
328 F. Supp. 1077 (E.D. New York, 1971)
People v. MacLaird
264 Cal. App. 2d 972 (California Court of Appeal, 1968)
United States v. Dennis Lloyd Pardee
368 F.2d 368 (Fourth Circuit, 1966)
United States v. Barner
195 F. Supp. 103 (N.D. California, 1961)
State v. Graham
322 S.W.2d 188 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1959)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
156 F. Supp. 200, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dreos-mdd-1957.