48 U.S.C. § 1561

Rights and prohibitions

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No law shall be enacted in the Virgin Islands which shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or deny to any person therein equal protection of the laws.

In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to be represented by counsel for his defense, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to have a copy thereof, to have a speedy, and public trial, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, and to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor.

No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law, and no person for the same offense shall be twice put in jeopardy of punishment, nor shall be compelled in any criminal cause to give evidence against himself; nor shall any person sit as judge or magistrate in any case in which he has been engaged as attorney or prosecutor.

All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties in the case of criminal offenses, except for first-degree murder or any capital offense when the proof is evident or the presumption great.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.

No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be enacted.

No person shall be imprisoned or shall suffer forced labor for debt.

All persons shall have the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and the same shall not be suspended except as herein expressly provided.

No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted.

Private property shall not be taken for public use except upon payment of just compensation ascertained in the manner provided by law.

The right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.

No warrant for arrest or search shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

Slavery shall not exist in the Virgin Islands.

Involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted by a court of law, shall not exist in the Virgin Islands.

No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people peaceably to assembly 11 So in original. Probably should be “assemble”. and petition the government for the redress of grievances.

No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

No person who advocates, or who aids or belongs to any party, organization, or association which advocates, the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the Virgin Islands or of the United States shall be qualified to hold any office of trust or profit under the government of the Virgin Islands.

No money shall be paid out of the Virgin Islands treasury except in accordance with an Act of Congress or money bill of the legislature and on warrant drawn by the proper officer.

The contracting of polygamous or plural marriages is prohibited.

The employment of children under the age of sixteen years in any occupation injurious to health or morals or hazardous to life or limb is prohibited.

Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to limit the power of the legislature herein provided to enact laws for the protection of life, the public health, or the public safety.

No political or religious test other than an oath to support the Constitution and the laws of the United States applicable to the Virgin Islands, and the laws of the Virgin Islands, shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Government of the Virgin Islands.

The following provisions of and amendments to the Constitution of the United States are hereby extended to the Virgin Islands to the extent that they have not been previously extended to that territory and shall have the same force and effect there as in the United States or in any State of the United States: article I, section 9, clauses 2 and 3; article IV, section 1 and section 2, clause 1; article VI, clause 3; the first to ninth amendments inclusive; the thirteenth amendment; the second sentence of section 1 of the fourteenth amendment; and the fifteenth and nineteenth amendments: Provided, however, That all offenses against the laws of the United States and the laws of the Virgin Islands which are prosecuted in the district court pursuant to sections 22 So in original. Probably should be “section”. 1612(a) and (c) of this title may be had by indictment by grand jury or by information, and that all offenses against the laws of the Virgin Islands which are prosecuted in the district court pursuant to section 1612(b) of this title or in the courts established by local law shall continue to be prosecuted by information, except such as may be required by local law to be prosecuted by indictment by grand jury.

All laws enacted by Congress with respect to the Virgin Islands and all laws enacted by the territorial legislature of the Virgin Islands which are inconsistent with the provisions of this subsection ² are repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 344 cases (27 in the last 5 years), 1955–2026 · leading case: Metcalfe v. Renaissance Marine, Inc., 566 F.3d 324 (3rd Cir. 2009).

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Metcalfe v. Renaissance Marine, Inc., 566 F.3d 324 (3rd Cir. 2009). · cites it 2× “" [5] Section 3 of the Revised Organic Act of 1954, 48 U.S.C. § 1561 , makes the Due Process Clause applicable to the Virgin Islands.”

Blyden v. People, 53 V.I. 637 (2010). · cites it 3× “The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution is applicable in the Virgin Islands pursuant to § 3 of the Revised Organic Act of 1954, as amended, 48 U.S.C. § 1561 . The complete Revised Organic Act of 1954 is found at 48 U.”

Murrell v. People, 54 V.I. 338 (2010). · cites it 3× “” 48 U.S.C. § 1561 . In his brief, Murrell, citing the Superior Court’s decision in Daly , contends that sections 3 and 26 both bestow a right to a jury trial on criminal defendants in Virgin Islands local courts, and that section 26 confers greater protection than the Sixth…”

United Steel Paper & Forestry Rubber Mfg. Allied Indus. & Serv. Workers Int'l Union AFL-CIO-CLC v. Gov't of the Virgin Islands, 842 F.3d 201 (3rd Cir. 2016). · cites it 2× “2 We perceive no obstacle to the Unions’ suit posed by the Eleventh Amendment because the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands — which extends constitutional provisions to the Virgin Islands and does not expressly provide Eleventh Amendment protection, see 48 U.S.C. § 1561…”

Barnard v. Thorstenn, 489 U.S. 546 (1989). · cites it 4× “See 48 U. S. C. § 1561 . Petitioners concede that the District Court is an instrumentality of the Government of the Virgin Islands and is subject to the Privileges and Immunities Clause through the Revised Organic Act.”

Rivera-Moreno v. Gov't of the Virgin Islands, 61 V.I. 279 (2014). · cites it 3× “” 48 U.S.C. § 1561 . Consistent with this guarantee, the Legislature enacted chapter 91 of title 5 of the Virgin Islands Code to establish a procedure for seeking habeas corpus relief under Virgin Islands law.”

Simmonds v. People, 59 V.I. 480 (2013). · cites it 3× “” Revised Organic Act § 3, 48 U.S.C. § 1561 . [The defendant] was prosecuted for violations of the laws of the Virgin Islands, in the Superior Court, which was established by local law.”

Rodriguez v. Bureau of Corr., 58 V.I. 367 (2013). · cites it 3× “” Revised Organic Act § 3, 48 U.S.C. § 1561 . 7 The question presents itself, then, of what was *383 Congress’s understanding of the scope of the writ of habeas corpus when it created the Revised Organic Act; for if Congress understood the privilege of habeas corpus to be…”

Kelvin Manbodh Asbestos Litig. Series v. Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp., 58 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 387 (2005). · cites it 4× “Third, R & G challenges HOVIC’s attempts to “tak[e] undue and unfair advantage” of it through HOVIC’s comparatively longer involvement in the proceedings and failure to distinguish R & G’s negligence from the acts or omissions of co-defendants. 9 This, R & G alleges, violates R…”

Gov't of the Virgin Islands v. Salvador Santiago Ortiz, Jr., 427 F.2d 1043 (3rd Cir. 1970). · cites it 8× “However, the government took the position that the Bail Reform Act should not apply when it conflicts with the bail provision contained in section 3 of the Revised Organic Act, 48 U.S.C. § 1561 (1964): A11 persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties in the case of criminal…”

Ward v. People, 58 V.I. 277 (2013). · cites it 3× “” 48 U.S.C. § 1561 . According to Ward, this language *283 purportedly provides greater protection than the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment, which provides that no person shall “be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.”

People v. Dowdye, 48 V.I. 45 (2006). · cites it 5× “Dowdye, [hereinafter “the Defendant” or “Dowdye”], charged inter alia with first degree murder, must be denied bail pursuant to the applicable language contained within § 3, Rights and Prohibitions, as codified in Title 48 U.S.C. § 1561 . 1 For the reasons that follow, bail is…”

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