Mario Maximo Medina-Quijije v. United States

Petitioner’s case presents the following important constitutional questions:

1. Whether the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA) exceeds Congress’s Article I powers, particularly where the MDLEA is extended to the prosecution of a foreign citizen whose offense had no nexus to the United States?

2. Whether Congress exceeded its authority under the Felonies Clause by defining a “vessel without nationality” to include vessels that are not stateless under international law?

3. Whether the prosecution under the MDLEA of a foreign citizen whose offense had no nexus to the United States, violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment?