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George
Washington Appoints First Marshals - 1789
The offices of U.S. Marshal and Deputy Marshals were
created more than 200 years ago by the first Congress in
the Judiciary Act of 1789, the same legislation that
established the federal judicial system. The Marshals
were given extensive authority to support the federal
courts within their judicial districts and to carry out
all lawful orders issued by judges, Congress, or the
President.
The Marshals and their Deputies served the subpoenas,
summonses, writs, warrants, and other process issued by
the courts, made all the arrests, and handled all the
prisoners. They also disbursed the money.
The 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
the witnesses were on time.
But this was only a part of what the Marshals did.
When George 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 capitol. 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 the 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 10 years 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 and the
President also have called on the Marshals to carry out
unusual or extraordinary missions, such as registering
enemy aliens in time of war, capturing fugitive slaves,
sealing the American border against armed expeditions
from foreign countries, and swapping spies with the
former Soviet Union.
The Modern Marshals Service -
Changing with the Times
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. So, too, the
Marshals Service has changed dramatically! 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.
Books about the United States
Marshals Service:
- The Lawmen : United States Marshals and Their
Deputies 1789-1989
Author: Fredrick S. Calhoun
Publisher: Smithsonian Press -1989
- The Lawmen : United States Marshals and Their
Deputies 1789-1989 (paperback)
Author: Fredrick S. Calhoun
Publisher: Penquin Press-1992
- Too Tough To Die
Author: Robbert Sabbag
Publisher: Simon & Schuster - 1992
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