Earl F. Love v. United States

Many federal criminal offenses have a jurisdictional element requiring proof that the alleged crime was committed “within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.” The question presented, on which the Courts of Appeals are divided, is whether a district or appellate court can take judicial notice of a jurisdictional element, such as territorial jurisdiction, without violating a defendant’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to due process of law and trial by jury? A subsidiary question is whether a court’s mere labelling of a fact, as adjudicative or legislative, can remove a factual determination from a jury without violating the Sixth Amendment?