United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) (sometimes incorrectly spelled "Marshal's 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 at the same time the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the United States 1. There is some controversy regarding this fact. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service claims it was created in 1772 while the USMS claims to have been created in 1789 2.
The USMS is the enforcement arm of the federal courts, protecting federal courts and ensuring the effective operation of the judicial system.
Duties
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 men and women of the Marshals Service are 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.
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 - Tyler D. David
- Deputy Director of the U.S. Marshals Service - Robert 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
- Assitant Director for Training - Brian Beckwith
- Assistant Director, Investigative Services Division - Robert J. Finan, II
- Domestic Investigations Branch
- International Investigations Branch
- Sexual Predator Crimes Branch
- Criminal Information Branch
- Technical Operations Group
- Assistant Director, Judicial Services Division - Marc Farmer
- Assistant Director, Operations Support Division - Arthur D. Roderick
- 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 3067 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 as1811 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.
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. [1]
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.
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 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
- Tyler D. David, Marshal for the Oklahoma Territory
- Matthew Greenlee, deputy marshal in Washington DC
Fictional U.S. Marshals
- Best, Sam — played by Joel Higgins, in the TV show Best of the West (1981–1982).
- Cahill, J. D. — played by John Wayne, in the movie Cahill U.S. Marshall (1973).
- Carter, Jack — played by Colin Ferguson, in the TV show Eureka (2006–).
- Cogburn, Rooster — played by John Wayne, in the movies True Grit (1969) and Rooster Cogburn (1975).
- Cooper, Jed — played by Clint Eastwood, in the movie Hang 'Em High (1968).
- Craddock, Jack — played by John H. Brennan, in the television show Bordertown (1989).
- Deguerin, Robert — played by James Caan, in the movie Eraser (1996).
- Dillon, Matt — played by James Arness, in the TV show 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 movies The Fugitive (1993) and U.S. Marshals (1998).
- Gordon, Artemus — played by Kevin Kline, in the movie Wild Wild West (1999).
- “the Highwayman” — played by Sam J. Jones, in the TV show The Highwayman (1987, 1988).
- Kane, Morgan — from the Morgan Kane Book series by Louis Masterson.
- Kruger, John — played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the movie Eraser (1996).
- Larkin, Vince — played by John Cusack, in the movie Con Air (1997).
- Mars, Edward — played by Fredric Lehne, in the TV show Lost (2004+).
- McCloud, Sam — played by Dennis Weaver, in the TV show McCloud (1970–1977).
- Morgan, Frank — played by John Bromfield, in the TV shows Sheriff of Cochise (1956–1958) and U.S. Marshal (1958–1960).
- O'Niel, W. T. — played by Sean Connery, in the movie 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 movie Out of Sight (1998)
- and by Carla Gugino in the TV show Karen Sisco (2003–2004).
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
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:
listed on March 6, 2001
Status: US PRISONER, faces 15 years to life, convicted April 18, 2002 in Cincinnati, Ohio US District court on separate firearms and car theft charges; arrested at a Kinko's in Springdale, Ohio December 5, 2001; mailed anthrax letters to Planned Parenthood November 2001; stalkings and threats to kill 42 low-level abortion industry employees up to November 23, 2001; became a U. S. Marshals Service top 15 fugitive on March 6, 2001 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 [2]
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.