HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AMENDING SECTION 22 OF THE ORGANIC ACT OF GUAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP58-00453R000100300015-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 31, 2000
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: June 7, 1954
• Content Type: REGULATION

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83D CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRE
2d Session
AMENDING SECTION 22 OF THE ORGANIC ACT OF GUAM
JUNE 7, 1954.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State
of the Union and ordered to be printed
Mr. MILLER, of Nebraska, from the Committee on Interior and
Insular Affairs, submitted the following
REPORT
The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, to whom was
referred the bill (H. R. 8634) to amend section 22 of the Organic Act
of Guam, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with
amendments and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
Page 1, line 11, after "Guam" insert the following:
and except further that the terms "attorney for the government" and "United
States attorney", as used in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall,
when applicable to cases arising under the laws of Guam, mean the Attorney
General of Guam or such other person or persons as may be authorized by the
laws of Guam to act therein.
Page 2, following line 6, add the following new section:
SEc. 4. If any particular provision of this Act, or the application thereof to
any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the
application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be
affected thereby.
EXPLANATION OF THE BILL
The purpose of H. R. 8634, as amended, is to amend section 22 of
the Organic Act of Guam (48 U. S. C. sec. 1424).
The organic act was enacted in 1950. Section 22 provides for the
establishment of the District Court of Guam; provides for its jurisdic-
tion both over Federal laws and laws applicable to Guam as passed by
the Guam Legislature; and provides that Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure shall apply
to the District Court of Guam and to appeals therefrom.
Section 1 of H. R. 8634 would amend subsection (b) of section 22 so
as to make unnecessary trial by jury or the prosecution of offenses
through indictment by a grand jury in the District Court of Guam,
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unless and until so authorized by laws enacted by the Legislature of
Guam. The committee calls attention to the fact that neither grand
juries nor petit juries have ever been employed in Guam inasmuch as
the island's legal traditions are derived from Spain, a civil law nation.
The jury system, therefore, is -virtually unknown to the Guamanian
people. This bill would merely continue the existing situation until
changed by action of the Guam Legislature.
.Section 1 further provides that the terms "Attorney for the Gov-
ernment" and "United States attorney" as used in the Federal Rules
of Criminal Procedure shall mean the attorney general of Guam or
such other persons as may be duly authorized to act in his capacity.
Section 2 of this bill would. make the amendment provided for in see-
tion 1 effective as of August 1, 1950. Section 3 would provide that
no conviction of a defendant in a criminal proceeding in the District
Court of Guam heretofore had shall 'be reversed or set aside on the
ground that the defendant was not indicted by a grand jury or tried
by a petit jury. Section 4, a separability clause, provides that if
any portion of this bill or the application thereof is found to be un-
constitutional, the remainder of the act and the application of such
provision shall not be affected.
By the terms of the Treaty of Paris, signed on December 10, 1898,
and proclaimed on April 11, 1899, Guam was ceded by Spain to the
United States. For the next 51 years it was administered as an un-
incorporated Territory of the United States by the Department of
the Navy until July 1, 1950, and since then by the Department of the
Interior. The Organic Act of Guam (Public Law 630, 81st Cong_
of the United States, August 1, 1950) provides the framework upon
which the government is administered.
The reports of the Department of the Interior and the Department.
of Justice respectively are set forth below in full and further explain
the purpose of the bill:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
Dr. A. L. MILLER Washington, D. C., May 11, 1951'.
,
Chairman, Ccmmittee on Interior and Insular Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, D.
MY DEAR DR. MILLER: This will reply further to your request for the views of
this Department on H. R. 8634, a bill to amend section 22 of the Organic Act of
Guam.
I recommend that the bill be promptly enacted, with the amendments
hereinafter indicated.
Section 22 of the Organic Act of Guam (48 U. S. C., sec. 1424) provides that
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure,
among others, shall apply to the district court of Guam and to appeals therefrom.
Section 1. of H. R. 8634 would amend that section to provide that no provision of
any such rules which authorizes or requires indictment by a grand jury or trial by
jury shall be applicable to the district court of Guam, unless and until made so
applicable by the Legislature of Guam. Section 2 of H. R. 8634 provides that
section 1 shall be deemed to be in effect as of August 1, 1950, the date of enact-
ment of the Organic Act of Guam (64 Stat. 384, 48 U. S. C., sec. 1421 et seq.).
Section 3 provides that no conviction of a defendant in a criminal proceeding', in
the district court of Guam prior to the date of enactment of the bill shall be
reversed or set aside on the ground that the defendant was not indicted by a
grand jury or tried by a petit jury.
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Neither nand juries nor petit juries have ever been employee Guam. Because
the legal traditions of the Territory stem from Spain, a civil-law nation, the jury
system is virtually unknown to the Guamanian people. Since juries have never
been used by them, the enactment of H. R. 8534 would do no more than per-
petuate the situation which now exists, and, in my opinion, clarify the intent of
the Congress with respect to the use of juries in Guam.
Immediate enactment of the bill is required in the light of two recent decisions
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Very recently, in
the cases of Pugh v. United States and Hatchett v. Government of Guam, in opinions
filed February 26, 1954, and March 30, 1954, respectively, the Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit reversed two felony convictions for the reason, in each case,
that the conviction was based upon an information and not upon an indictment.
The Pugh case involved the violation of a law of the United States, while the
Hatchett case concerned the violation of a law of Guam. Both cases arose in the
District Court of Guam, which has certain local as well as Federal jurisdiction
(48 U. S. C., sec. 1424 (a)). The court so ruled because the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure, made applicable to the District Court of Guam by section
22 (b) of the organic act, require in rule 7 that certain crimes be prosecuted by
indictment unless indictment is waived. The effect of the court's holding appears
to be that all convictions of felonies heretofore had in the District Court of Guam
may be set aside, upon appropriate motion of the defendant, unless indictment
was earlier waived by him. A general jail delivery is therefore imminent unless
H. R. 8634 is enacted. We are informed that 35 convicted felons, now imprisoned
pursuant to either Federal or local law, are potentially affected by the Pugh and
Hatchett decisions. It is clearly of critical importance that their release be pre-
vented.
It is my view that the legislative history of the bill which became the Guam
Organic Act (H. It. 7273, 81st Cong.), shows that the Congress, with the full
concurrence of this Department, did not intend to provide for the use of grand
juries or petit juries in Guam. This intention is shown, among other things, by
the failure to provide for a jury trial in the organic act's bill of rights, or to provide
for the application to the District Court of Guam of chapter 121 of title 28, United
States Code, relating to the qualifications and manner of selecting jurors. The
House and Senate committees considering the organic act appear to have con-
sidered that juries would not be used in Guam, for in their reports (11. Rept.
1677, 81st Gong., p. 13; S. Rept. 2109, 81st Cong., p. 13), they stated that:
"The bill of rights is modeled upon the Bill of Rights in the United States
Constitution but does not expressly provide for trial by jury in Guam. Since
Guamainians derive thier tradition in law from Spain, a civil-law nation, they
have little knowledge or experience in trial by jury. The Guam Congress could
institute trial by jury if it so desired."
Because doubt subsequently arose as to whether this result had clearly been
achieved, a section was included (sec. 35 (b)) in H.. R. 6808 of the 82d Congress,
the Guam omnibus bill, which would have clarified this point. Section 35 (b)
of H. R. 6508 carried precisely the provision of section 1 of II. It. 8634. This
Department reported favorably upon the bill in a letter to former Chairman
Murdock, of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, dated May 9,
1952, in which particular note was taken of section 35. II. R. 6808 failed of
enactment, however.
Because of the Guamanians' civil law heritage, it seems to me entirely desirable
to refrain from requiring jury trials in the territory. This is especially so, I
think, so long as it is made clear, as H. R. 8634 would do, that jury trials could be
instituted in the District Court of Guam at whatever time the Guam Legislature
should choose. It should be noted that the constitutional guaranties of indict-
ment by grand jury and trial by jury do not apply to Guam, since it is an unin-
corporated territory. We have examined the bill in the light of other constitu-
tional questions which might be raised with respect to it and have concluded that
it is unobjectionable on any such ground.
I appreciate that the Pugh and Hatchett cases do not. hold that petit juries are
required in the District of Guam. It is therefore not of as pressing importance
that the law be clarified in this respect as it is in the case of grand juries. I think,
it desirable, however, for H. R. 8634 to make reference to both grand and petit
juries, in order to avoid any subsequent argument on this point.
I suggest, however, that H. It. 8634 be amended in two particulars. First,
there is a danger that the Hatchett decision may be interpreted to exclude attor-
neys for the Government of Guam from prosecuting persons in the District Court
of Guam for violations of the laws of Guam. It has thus far been the practice in
the District Court of Guam for the United States attorney or his assistant to
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prosecute in Federal cases, but for attorneys for the Government h.y Guam to
prosecute for violations of territorial law. This arrangement, in my opinion, is
efficient and sound. But the statement in the Hatchett case that "but a single
system of procedure is to be followed in respect to both types of cases in the District
Court of Guam," casts doubt upon the correctness of such a division of the case-
load, as do references in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to the "United
States attorney" and "attorneys for the government," the latter term bein
defined in rule 54 (c) so as to exclude attorneys for the Government of Guam. In
order that territorial legal officers may continue to act with respect to territorial,
as opposed to Federal, matters, I recommend that the bill be amended by striking
out the words "Legislature of Guam.'.", on page 1, line 11, and inserting in lieu
thereof the following:
"Legislature of Guam, and except further that the terms `attorney for the
government' and `United States attorney', as used in the Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure, shall, when applicable to cases arising under the laws of Guam, mean
the Attorney General of Guam or such other person or persons as may be au-
thorized by the laws of Guam to act therein."
Secondly, although this Department considers that no serious question exists
concerning the validity of H. R. 8634, I nonetheless believe that it would be
desirable to add a separability clause. I therefore recommend that a new sec-
tion 4 be added on page 2 of the bill, immediately following line 6, such section
to read as follows:
"SEC. 4. If any particular provision of this Act, or the application thereof to
any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the
application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be
affected thereby."
I hope very much that your committee will adopt these two amendments and
that H. It. 8634 will be enacted promptly.
The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the sub-
mission of this report.
Sincerely yours,
ORME LEWIS,
Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL,
lion. A. L. MILLER, Washington, May 26, 1954.
Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.
DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of the
Department of Justice relative to the bill (H. R. 8634) to amend section 22 of the
Organic Act of Guam.
Section 1 of the bill would amend section 22 of the Organic Act of Guam so as
to make unnecessary trial by jury or the prosecution of offenses by indictment by
a grand jury in the District Court of Guam unless and until so authorized by
laws enacted by the Legislature of Guam.
Section 2 of the bill would make the amendment provided for in section 1
effective as of August 1, 1950.
Section 3 would provide that no conviction of a defendant in a criminal proceed-
ing in the District Court of Guam heretofore had shall be reversed or set aside on
the ground that the defendant was not indicted by a grand jury or tried by a
petit jury.
The use of juries in Guam is not required by the Constitution. The Supreme
Court has held that Congress may deny the right to grand jury indictment and
petit jury trial in courts for unincorporated territories of the United States (see
Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U. S. 298). Guam has not been incorporated into the
United States. The bill of rights for Guam, contained in the organic act (48
U. S. C. 1421-1424), is modeled on the Bill of Rights of the United States Con-
stitution but deliberately excludes the provisions guaranteeing grand and petit
juries. he explanation given for this in the legislative reports on the organic
act was that Guamanians derive their tradition in law from Spain, a civil'
law nation, [and hence] they have little knowledge or experience in trial by jury.
The Guam Congress could institute trial by jury if it so desired" (S. Rept. 2109,
81st Cong., 2d sess., p. 13). The inference that it was not intended to have juries
in Guam is strengthened by the :fact that there was no adoption of the provisions
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of the Ju(: i!ial Code for selecting grand and petit; jury panels, although other
sections of the Judicial Code were explicitly incorporated.
The proposed amendments to the Organic Act of Guam contained in the bill
have been thought necessary because of two recent decisions of the Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holding that grand jury indictments are necessary
in felony cases, and because one of the judges of that court (Chief Judge Denman)
took the view that petit juries are also necessary (Pugh v. United States, and
Hatchett v. Guam, decided March 30, 1954). The basis for the court's decision
is that the Organic Act of Guam provides for a district court with jurisdiction of
a district court of the United States as such court is defined in section 451 of
title 28, United States Code, and original jurisdiction in all other causes in Guam
which has not been transferred by the legislature to other court or courts estab-
lished by it (48 U. S. C. 1424). The organic act, also provides that the rules
promulgated by the Supreme Court of the United States for the trial of civil,
criminal, admiralty and bankruptcy cases (28 U. S. C. 2072; 18 U. S. C. 3771,
3772; 28 U. S. C. 2073; 11 U. S. C. 53) shall apply to the District Court of Guam.
The Court of Appeals determined that since the rules to be applied in the District
Court of Guam were the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and those rules
explicitly require indictments in felony cases, it is necessary to proceed in felony
cases in the District Court of Guam by way of grand jury indictment. Although
the majority of the court ruled that a petit jury must be provided only when
"required by law," Chief Judge Denman took the separate view that so long
as the District Court of Guam was given the "jurisdiction" of a United States
district court, it was required to be in all major respects the same as any other
such court, which meant that grand and petit juries were mandatory in felony
cases if the defendant chose.
The first section of the proposed amendment would make clear that the decision
of the ninth circuit in this matter would not have prospective effect. The use of
grand and petit juries would not be mandatory in Guam, but if the Legislature
of Guam desires to institute those procedures, it can do so.
Section 2 of the bill would provide, in effect, that persons who have already
committed offenses but have not been charged, may be proceeded against by
information, as has been the practice in Guam. Section 3 would provide, on the
other hand, that those who have already been proceeded against by way of
information and trial without a jury, rather than indictment and jury trial, cannot
use such fact as a basis for attack on their convictions by appeal or collaterally.
Thus sections 2 and 3 have retrospective effect.
Whether the bill should be enacted involves a question of policy concerning
which this Department prefers to make no recommendation. However, with
respect to sections 2 and 3, in view of the doubt that may be raised as to their
validity because of their retrospective effect, the committee, if it gives favorable
consideration to the provisions in question, may desire to include a severability
clause in the bill.
The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submis-
sion of this report.
Sincerely,
WILLIAM P. ROGERS,
Deputy Attorney General.
RESOLUTION OF THE JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF GUAM
Also reproduced as a part of this report is the following resolution of April 21,
1954, from the Judicial Council of Guam endorsing H. R. 8634.
JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF GUAM
RESOLUTION
Whereas the Judicial Council of Guam was created by part I, Chapter VI, section
121 of the Code of Civil Procedure of Guam, as amended, and is composed of all
judges of Guam courts, the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Guam Legislature, the attorney general of Guam, and the president of the Bar
Association of Guam; and
Whereas, under date of February 26, 1054, the United States Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit in the case of Bartholomew Moffett Pugh, Jr., v. United States
of America, and under date of March 30, 1954, in the case of George B. Hatchett v.
the Government of Guam, filed opinions holding that the District Court of Guam is
without jurisdiction in felony cases unless the accused is indicted by grand jury;
unless waived; and
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Whereas such cases also hold that trial by petit jury is not requird in Guam
and that the District Court of Guam is without specific statutory authority to call
a grand jury until authorized by legislation of the Guam Legislature; and
Whereas such opinions cast doubt on the legality of all convictions and acquit-
tals in the District Court of Guam, invloving felonies, in over 3 years of its exist-
ence, when indictment was not waived; and
Whereas the United States Congress made no provision for a jury system in
Guam in the bill of rights in the Organic Act of Guam but have adequate reasons
for such determination and stated in the committee reports that the Guam Legis-
lature could establish such a system if it so desired; and
Whereas the Guam Legislature has considered legislation to establish a jury
system, but such legislation was not reported out of committee; and
Whereas the Judicial Council of Guam is of the view that the United States
Congress did not intend that persons accused of felonies in Guam should be indicted
or tried by jury in the absence of legislation by the Guam Legislature based upon
local experience and resources; and
Whereas the Hon. John P. Saylor, chairman of the Subcommittee on Territorial
and Insular Possessions, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of
Representatives, has introduced H. R. 8634, 83d Congress, 2d session, having for
its purpose an amendment to subsection (b) of section 22 of the Organic Act of
Guam, retroactive to August 1, 1950, to carry out the original intent of the United
States Congress; and
Whereas the enactment of such amendment is vital if the public interest is to be
properly served and a jail. delivery avoided: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Judicial Council of Guam at its regular meeting held April 21
1954, That H. It. 8634 has the full support and endorsement of such council and
the council hopes for its speedy enactment, and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution signed by the chairman and vice chair-
man and attested by the secretary be forwarded by the chairman to the Hon. John
P. Saylor and to the Secretary of the Interior.
PAUL D. SHRIVER,
Chairman.
JOSE V. MANIBUSAN,
Vice Chairman,
V. V. MAMBY, Secretary.
Copies of the decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit dated February 26, 1954 and March 30, 1954,
in which Bartholomew Moffett Pugh, Jr. v. linited States of America,
and George B. Hatchett v. The Government of Guam, were involved are
on file with the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. The
decisions emphasize the urgency for the immediate enactment of this
legislation.
CONCLUSION
The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs is unanimously of
the opinion that the enactment of H. R. 8634 would be in the best
interests of the people of Guam and of the people of the United States
as a whole. Its enactment will strengthen the Organic Act of Guam
and will retain in the Guamanians the right to decide on the procedures
by which criminal cases on Guam may be prosecuted.
In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as
reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted
is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics, existing
law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman) :
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re 4W
SECTION 22 OF TIIE ORGANIC ACT OF GUAM (64 STAT. 389)
(b) The rules heretofore or hereafter promulgated and made effective by the
Supreme Court of the United States pursuant to section 2072 of title 28, United
States Code, in civil cases; section 2073 of title 28, United States Code, in admi-
ralty cases; sections 3771 and 3772 of title 18, United States Code, in criminal
cases; and section 30 of the Bankruptcy Act of July 1, 1898, as amended (title 11,
U. S. C., sec. 53), in bankruptcy cases; shall apply to the District Court of Guam
and to appeals therefrom [.]; except that no provisions of any such rules which
authorize or require trial by jury or the prosecution of offenses by indictment by a
grand jury instead of by information shall be applicable to the District Court of Guam
unless and until made so applicable by laws enacted by the Legislature of Guam, and
except further that the terms "attorney for the government" and "United States attor-
ney", as used in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall, when applicable to
cases arising under the laws of Guam, mean the Attorney General of Guam or such
other person or persons as may be authorized by the laws of Guam to act therein.
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