The United States Marshals Service (USMS)
(sometimes incorrectly spelled “Marshals’ Service”), a bureau
within the United States Department of Justice (see 28 U.S.C. § 561),
is a federal police organization with special spheres of
authority, and the oldest federal law enforcement agency in
the United States.[1]
The USMS is the enforcement arm of the federal
courts, protecting federal courts and ensuring the effective
operation of the judicial system.
Duties
A US Marshal on a "Con Air"
flight.
The Marshals Service is responsible for
providing protection for the federal judiciary, transporting
federal prisoners (see JPATS), protecting endangered federal
witnesses and managing assets seized from criminal
enterprises. The Marshals Service is responsible for 55.2
percent of arrests of federal fugitives. In 2003, U.S.
marshals captured over 34,000 federal fugitives and assisted
in the capture of over 27,000 state or local
fugitives.
U.S. Marshals also have the power to enlist
any willing civilian as deputies with or without training. In
the Old West this is known as forming a posse.
Organization
The United States Marshals Service is based in
Arlington, Virginia and, under the authority and direction of
the Attorney General, is headed by a Director, who is assisted
by a Deputy Director. USMS Headquarters provides command,
control and cooperation for the disparate elements of the
service.
Headquarters
- Director of the U.S. Marshals Service -
John F. Clark
- Deputy Director of the U.S. Marshals
Service - Robert E. Trono
- EEO Officer - Lisa Dickinson
- General Counsel - Gerald M. Auerbach
- Assistant Director, Business Services
Division - Michael A. Pearson
- Chief, Procurement Office - Anita K.
Maldon
- Chief, Asset Forfeiture Office -
Katherine Deoudes
- Chief, Property Management Branch - Nick
Prevas
- Chief, Motor Vehicles Branch - Ron Rucker
- Comptroller & Chief Financial Officer -
Edward Dolan
- Assistant Director, Management &
Budget Division - Broadine M. Brown
- Chief, Office of Finance - Robert
Whiteley
- Assistant Director, Information Technology
Division - Diane Litman
- Assistant Director, Executive Services
Division - Michael A. Pearson
- Chief, Congressional Affairs Branch -
John J. McNulty, III
- Chief, Public Affairs Branch - Donald
Hines
- Assistant Director, Human Resource Division
- Suzanne D. Smith
- Chief, Personnel Branch - Katherine Mohan
- Assistant Director for Training - Brian
Beckwith
- Assistant Director, Investigative Services
Division - Arthur D. Roderick
- Domestic Investigations Branch
- International Investigations Branch
- Sexual Predator Crimes Branch
- Criminal Information Branch
- Technical Operations Group
- Assistant Director, Judicial Security
Division - Robert J. Finan, II
- Assistant Director, Operations Support
Division - Marc Farmer
- Special Operations Group
- Office of Emergency Management
- Office of Inspections
- Assistant Director, Justice Prisoner Alien
Transportation System - James Ellis (Acting)
- Assistant Director, Witness Security &
Prisoner Services Division - Sylvester Jones
Regional
The U.S. court system is divided into 94
Districts. Each of the districts has a U.S. Marshal, a Chief
Deputy U.S. Marshal (GS-15), Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshals,
and as many Deputy and Special Deputy U.S. Marshals as needed.
In the US federal budget for 2005, funds for 3,067 deputy
marshals and criminal investigators were provided.
The Director and each United States Marshal is
appointed by the President of the United States and subject to
confirmation by the United States Senate. The District U.S.
Marshal is traditionally appointed from a list of qualified
law enforcement personnel for that district or state. Each
state has at least one district, while several larger states
have three or more.
OPM
Classification
Deputy U.S. Marshals are classified as either
General Schedule (GS) 1811 (Criminal Investigator Deputy) or
0082 (Deputy). The 1811 Deputies receive an additional 25%
LEAP pay on top of their base pay, and may progress to the
grade of GS-12. Additionally, 0082 Deputies may only progress
to the grade of GS-11. Due to budget cutbacks, the U.S.
Marshals Service only hires 0082 Deputy U.S. Marshals. An 0082
Deputy wishing to become an 1811 Deputy must do so by applying
internally. In recent years, the Marshals Service has promoted
an average of 120 to 140 (GS)1811 Deputies per year. Recent
developments at headquarters, coupled with a new director seem
to show promise for advancement opportunities for 0082
Deputies.
0082 Deputies do have the same "Federal
Law Enforcement Special Agent" powers as 1811 deputies. 0082
Deputies primary duties are very similar to that of their
counterpart 1811 deputies, yet 0082 deputies may not act as a
lead investigator. 1811 deputies perform mostly investigative
related duties such as fugitive apprehension, etc.
History
The offices of U.S. Marshals and Deputy
Marshals were created by the first Congress in the Judiciary
Act of 1789, the same legislation that established the federal
judicial system. In a letter to Edmund Randolph, the first
Attorney General of the United States, President George
Washington wrote,
- Impressed with a conviction that the due
administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good
Government, I have considered the first arrangement of the
Judicial department as essential to the happiness of our
Country, and to the stability of its political system; hence
the selection of the fittest characters to expound the law,
and dispense justice, has been an invariable object of my
anxious concern.
Many of the first U.S. Marshals had already
proven themselves in military service during the American
Revolution. Among the first marshals was John Adams'
son-in-law Congressman William Stephens Smith for the district
of New York. Another early U.S. Marshal was Henry Dearborn for
the district of Maine.
From the earliest days of the nation, Marshals
were permitted to recruit Special Deputies as local hires or
as temporary transfers to the Marshals Service from other
federal law enforcement agencies. Marshals were also
authorised to swear in a posse to assist them in manhunts and
other duties on an ad hoc basis. Marshals were given
extensive authority to support the federal courts within their
judicial districts, and to carry out all lawful orders issued
by federal judges, Congress, or the President.
The Marshals and their Deputies served
subpoenas, summonses, writs, warrants, and other process
issued by the courts, made all the arrests, and handled all
federal prisoners. They also disbursed funds as ordered by the
courts. Marshals paid the fees and expenses of the court
clerks, U.S. Attorneys, jurors, and witnesses. They rented the
courtrooms and jail space and hired the bailiffs, criers, and
janitors. They made sure the prisoners were present, the
jurors were available, and that the witnesses were on
time.
When Washington set up his first
administration and the first Congress began passing laws, both
quickly discovered an inconvenient gap in the constitutional
design of the government: It had no provision for a regional
administrative structure stretching throughout the country.
Both the Congress and the executive branch were housed at the
national capital; no agency was established or designated to
represent the federal government's interests at the local
level. The need for a regional organization quickly became
apparent. Congress and the President solved part of the
problem by creating specialized agencies, such as customs and
revenue collectors, to levy tariffs and taxes, yet there were
numerous other jobs that needed to be done. The only officers
available to do them were the Marshals and their
Deputies.
Thus, the Marshals also provided local
representation for the federal government within their
districts. They took the national census every decade through
1870. They distributed Presidential proclamations, collected a
variety of statistical information on commerce and
manufacturing, supplied the names of government employees for
the national register, and performed other routine tasks
needed for the central government to function effectively.
Over the past 200 years, Congress, the President and Governors
have also have called on the Marshals to carry out unusual or
extraordinary missions, such as registering enemy aliens in
time of war, sealing the American border against armed
expeditions from foreign countries, and at times during the
Cold War, swapping spies with the Soviet Union, and also
retrieving North Carolina's copy of the Bill of Rights.[2]
Particularly in the American West, individual
Deputy Marshals have been seen as legendary heroes in the face
of rampant lawlessness (see Famous Marshals, below). Marshals
arrested the infamous Dalton Gang in 1893, helped suppress the
Pullman Strike in 1894, enforced Prohibition during the 1920s,
and have protected American athletes at recent Olympic Games.
Marshals protected the refugee boy Elián González before his
return to Cuba in 2000, and have protected abortion clinics as
required by Federal law. Since 1989, the Marshals Service has
been responsible for law enforcement among U.S. personnel in
Antarctica, although they are not routinely assigned
there.[3]
One of the more onerous jobs the Marshals were
tasked with was the recovery of fugitive slaves, as required
by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. They were also permitted to
form a posse and to deputize any person in any community to
aid in the recapture of fugitive slaves. Failure to cooperate
with a Marshal resulted in a $5000 fine and imprisonment, a
stiff penalty for those days. The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue
was a celebrated fugitive-slave case involving U.S. marshals.
James Batchelder was the second marshal killed in the line of
duty. Batchelder, along with others, was preventing the rescue
of fugitive slave Anthony Burns in Boston in 1854.
U.S. Marshals accompanying
James Meredith to class
In the 1960s the Marshals were on the front
lines of the Civil Rights Movement, mainly providing
protection to volunteers. In September 1962, President John F.
Kennedy ordered 127 marshals to accompany James Meredith, an
African American, who wished to register at the segregated
University of Mississippi. Their presence on campus provoked
riots at the university, requiring President Kennedy to
federalize the Mississippi National Guard to pacify the crowd,
but the marshals stood their ground, and Meredith successfully
registered. Marshals provided continuous protection to
Meredith during his first year at "Ole Miss," and Attorney
General Robert F. Kennedy later proudly displayed a marshal's
dented helmet in his office. U.S. Marshals also protected
black schoolchildren integrating public schools in the South.
Artist Norman Rockwell's famous painting "The Problem We All
Live With" depicted a tiny Ruby Bridges being escorted by four
towering U.S. marshals in 1964.
Just as America has changed over the past two
centuries, so has its federal justice system – from the
original 13 judicial districts, to 94 districts spanning the
continent and beyond; and with tens of thousands of federal
judges, prosecutors, jurors, witnesses, and defendants
involved in the judicial process. The Marshals Service has
changed with it, not in its underlying responsibility to
enforce the law and execute the orders issued by the court,
but in the breadth of its functions, the professionalism of
its personnel, and the sophistication of the technologies
employed. These changes are made apparent by an examination of
the contemporary duties of the modern Marshals
Service.
Except for suits by incarcerated persons,
non-prisoner litigants proceeding in In Forma Pauperis, or (in
some circumstances) by seamen, U.S. Marshals no longer serve
process in private civil actions filed in the U.S. district
courts. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, process
may be served by any U.S. citizen over the age of 18 who is a
not a party or an attorney involved in the case.
More than 200 U.S. marshals and deputy
marshals have been slain in the line of duty since Marshal
Robert Forsyth was shot dead by a man in Augusta, Georgia on
whom he was attempting to serve court papers, on January 11,
1794. He was the first US Government Law Officer killed in the
line of duty. They are remembered on an Honor Roll permanently
displayed at Headquarters.
Famous Marshals
Some famous or otherwise noteworthy U.S.
Marshals include:
- Seth Bullock (1849–1919), businessman,
rancher, sheriff for Montana, sheriff of Deadwood, U.S.
Marshal of South Dakota
- Charles Francis Colcord (1859–1934),
rancher, businessman and Marshal for Oklahoma
- Henry Dearborn {1751-1829}, Marshal for the
District of Maine
- Frederick Douglass (1818–1895), former
slave and noted Abolitionist leader, appointed U.S. Marshal
for the District of Columbia in 1877
- Virgil Earp (1843–1905), Deputy U.S.
Marshal, Tombstone, Arizona
- Wyatt Earp (1848-1929), Deputy U.S. Marshal
(appointed to his brother Virgil Earp's place by the Arizona
Territorial Governor)
- Wild Bill Hickock (1837–1876), noted
Western lawman, who served as a deputy U.S. Marshal at Fort
Riley, Kansas in 1867–1869
- Ward Hill Lamon (1826–1893), friend, law
partner and frequent bodyguard of President Abraham Lincoln,
who appointed him U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia.
- Benjamin McCulloch (1811–1862), U.S.
Marshal for Eastern District of Texas; became a brigadier
general in the army of the Confederate States during the
American Civil War
- Henry Eustace McCulloch (1816-1895), U.S.
Marshal for Eastern District of Texas. Brother of Benjamin
McCulloch; also a Confederate General
- Bat Masterson (1853–1921), noted Western
lawman
- Robert F. Morey, Marshal for Massachusetts,
designed the USMS Seal. The Marshals Service is the only
agency to have its seal created by one of its own.
- Henry Massey Rector (1816–1899), Marshal
for Arkansas, later governor of that state
- Porter Rockwell (c.1813–1878), "the
Destroying Angel of Mormondom", deputy marshal for Utah
- William Stephens Smith (1755-1816), 1789
U.S. Marshal for New York district and son-in-law of
President John Adams
- Dallas Stoudenmire (1845–1882), successful
City Marshal who tamed and controlled a remote, wild and
violent town of El Paso, Texas; became U.S. Marshal serving
West Texas and New Mexico Territory just before his death
- Heck Thomas (1850–1912), Bill Tilghman
(1854–1924), and Chris Madsen (1851–1944), the legendarily
fearless "Three Guardsmen" of the Oklahoma Territory
- William F. Wheeler, Marshal for the Montana
Territory
- James J. P. McShane (1961-1968), Appointed
U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia by JFK then named
Chief Marshal in 1962
Fictional U.S. Marshals
- Best, Sam — played by Joel Higgins, in the
TV series Best of the West (1981–1982).
- Cahill, J. D. — played by John Wayne, in
the film Cahill U.S. Marshall (1973).
- Carter, Jack — played by Colin Ferguson, in
the TV series Eureka (2006—).
- Cogburn, Reuben J. "Rooster" — played by
John Wayne, in the films True Grit (1969) &
Rooster Cogburn (1975), and by Warren Oates in the TV
movie True Grit (1978)
- Cooper, Jed — played by Clint Eastwood, in
the film Hang 'Em High (1968).
- Craddock, Jack — played by John H. Brennan,
in the TV series Bordertown (1989).
- Deguerin, Robert — played by James Caan, in
the film Eraser (1996).
- Dillon, Matt — played by James Arness, in
the TV series Gunsmoke (1955–1975).
- Goode, Chester B. — played by Dennis
Weaver, in Gunsmoke. Dillon’s deputy.
- Haggen, Festus — played by Ken Curtis, in
Gunsmoke. Dillon’s deputy.
- Gerard, Sam — played by Tommy Lee Jones, in
the films The Fugitive (1993) and U.S.
Marshals (1998).
- Gordon, Artemus — played by Kevin Kline, in
the film Wild Wild West (1999).
- “the Highwayman” — played by Sam J. Jones,
in the TV series The Highwayman (1987, 1988).
- Kane, Morgan — from the Morgan Kane Book
series by Louis Masterson.
- Kane, Will — played by Gary Cooper in the
film High Noon (1952).
- Kruger, John — played by Arnold
Schwarzenegger, in the film Eraser (1996).
- Larkin, Vince — played by John Cusack, in
the film Con Air (1997).
- Mars, Edward — played by Fredric Lehne, in
the TV series Lost (2004—).
- McCloud, Sam — played by Dennis Weaver, in
the TV series McCloud (1970–1977).
- Morgan, Frank — played by John Bromfield,
in the TV series Sheriff of Cochise (1956–1958) and
U.S. Marshal (1958–1960).
- O'Niel, W. T. — played by Sean Connery, in
the film Outland (1981). (Note his badge at the end
of U.S. Marshals Badges).
- Sisco, Karen — from the 1996 novel, Out
of Sight, by Elmore Leonard. Played by Jennifer Lopez in
the film Out of Sight (1998), and by Carla Gugino in
the TV series Karen Sisco (2003–2004).
This list is
incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Fugitive programs
15 Most Wanted
External link to current U.S. Marshals 15 Most
Wanted Fugitives
The Marshals Service publicizes the names of
wanted persons it places on the list of U.S. Marshals 15 Most
Wanted Fugitives, which is similar to and sometimes
overlapping the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, depending
on jurisdiction.
The 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Program was
established in 1983 in an effort to prioritize the
investigation and apprehension of high-profile offenders who
are considered to be some of the country’s most dangerous
fugitives. These offenders tend to be career criminals with
histories of violence or whose instant offense(s) pose a
significant threat to public safety. Current and past
fugitives in this program include murderers, sex offenders,
major drug kingpins, organized crime figures, and individuals
wanted for high-profile financial crimes.
Among the infamous fugitives listed on the
U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted list has been:
Clayton Waagner (listed on
2001-03-06)
- Status: US PRISONER, faces 15 years to
life, convicted on 2002-04-18 in Cincinnati, Ohio US
District court on separate firearms and car theft charges;
arrested at a Kinko's in Springdale, Ohio on 2001-12-05;
mailed anthrax letters to Planned Parenthood in November
2001; stalkings and threats to kill 42 low-level abortion
industry employees through 2001-11-23; became a U. S.
Marshals Service top 15 fugitive on 2001-03-06 because of
more than 280 letters that threatened to contain anthrax,
which he mailed with return addresses of the U.S. Marshals
Service and the U.S. Secret Service in October 2001.[4]
Major Cases
External link to current U.S. Marshals Service
Major Case Fugitives
The Major Case Fugitive Program was
established in 1985 in an effort to supplement the successful
15 Most Wanted Fugitive Program. Much like the 15 Most Wanted
Fugitive Program, the Major Case Fugitive Program prioritizes
the investigation and apprehension of high-profile offenders
who are considered to be some of the country’s most dangerous
individuals. All escapes from custody are automatically
elevated to Major Case status.
Marshals in
film
- The Fugitive
- U.S. Marshals
- Tombstone
- Rooster Cogburn
- Eraser
- The Last Marshal
- Con Air
- Wyatt Earp
Notes
- ^ Fact Sheet: United States
Marshals Service (PDF). usmarshals.gov. Retrieved on
2007-01-08.
While the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s
first agent—then called a “surveyor”—was appointed in 1772,
they were not organized as a service/agency until 1830.
(Chronology: U.S. Postal Inspection Service)
- ^ History in Custody: The U.S.
Marshals Service Takes Possession of North Carolina’s Copy
of the Bill of Rights. United States Marshals Service:
Historical Perspective. usmarshals.gov. Retrieved on
2007-01-08.
- ^ U.S. Marshals make legal
presence in Antarctica. United States Marshals Service:
Historical Perspective. usmarshals.gov. Retrieved on
2007-01-08.
- ^ FBI National Press Office
(2001-11-29). The FBI Announces New Information Regarding
Top Ten Fugitive Clayton Lee Waagner. FBI.gov. Retrieved on
2007-01-08.