Fugitive Felon Act

Fugitive felon legislation was introduced into the U.S. Congress in 1934 as part of a package of bills designed to give the federal government power to aid states in addressing the activities of criminal gangs. The Fugitive Felon Act (18 U.S.C. 1073, 1074), considered a major part of this antigangster legislation, made it a federal offense to flee a state to avoid prosecution for committing a felony or to avoid giving testimony in a criminal proceeding. Enforcing the act was and remains the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The criminal gang problem in the country at the time was extensive enough for one of the bill's supporters to note that there were more armed gangsters in the country than armed forces. In addition, interstate flight problems were increasing as methods of transportation became more readily accessible. Many of the bill's supporters, such as Senator Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg (R-MI) and Senator Royal Samuel Copeland (D-NY), represented states that had large cities where gangster activity flourished. Like the lawmakers who supported the bill, law enforcement officials from cities such as Detroit, New York, and Chicago welcomed the new law. Because of their proximity to state borders, felons or witnesses routinely fled these cities to fade-away or hideout areas outside the jurisdiction of their courts. Before the act was passed, state law enforcement officials were not only inhibited by the cost of potential out-of-state investigations, but even if fugitives were apprehended, extradition and rendition procedures were time consuming and costly.

The act was amended to enumerate types of felonies but in 1961 was subsequently amended to make the law applicable to all felonies as defined by the state in which the original crime occurred. Under Title III of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, the Fugitive Felon Act was expanded to make it a federal offense to flee to avoid giving testimony in a proceeding before a state agency or state authorized commission investigating criminal activity. This came in response to a proliferation of state commissions formed around that time to better deal with organized crime. Since 1980, the act has been used to aid in the apprehension of another type of offender—parents who kidnap their own children. Part of the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act allows states to use the Fugitive Felon Act in cases in which noncustodial parents take a child across state lines to avoid prosecution. Only those states that have felony parental kidnapping laws can make use of the provision.

A strict reading of the act calls for federal authorities to search and apprehend interstate fugitives and then prosecute them for the flight. The act's legislative history, however, suggests that the law's intent was not for the offenders to be prosecuted for the flight, but rather to give the federal authorities the power to secure custody and to return fugitives for local prosecution for the original crimes. In fact, very few people were ever federally prosecuted under the act. In addition, very few offenders were ever returned to authorities in the original local jurisdiction by federal authorities. A set of guidelines published by the FBI after the act was amended in 1961 suggests that the actual procedure followed by federal law enforcement only helped secure custody of the fugitives. The states were still charged with the task and costs of instituting extradition proceedings and transport. This is still true; the Criminal Resource Manual of the Department of Justice points out that the act does not give the FBI the authority to supersede state extradition proceedings and it directs that the federal complaint be dismissed as soon as a felon is turned over to state authorities.

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