No. 25-6644

James Daniel Arbaugh v. United States

Lower Court: Fourth Circuit
Docketed: 2026-01-22
Status: Pending
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: constitutional-limits criminal-prosecution foreign-commerce-clause international-law territorial-jurisdiction treaty-power
Key Terms:
DueProcess FifthAmendment HabeasCorpus Privacy
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether Congress exceeded the Foreign Commerce Clause's limits when criminalizing non-commercial sexual conduct in foreign territories, whether treaty consent can empower Congress to enact otherwise unconstitutional legislation, and whether the US can prosecute a citizen without foreign sovereign consent

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

Has America become so great that it need not consider due process, comity among nations, follow international law, or fulfill its treaty obligations? Why are the lower courts not upholding the Constitution? (1) Did Congress exceed the outer limits of the Foreign Commerce Clause when amending 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c) to criminalize non commercial, illicit sexual conduct occurring entirely in a foreign sovereign territory among its residents? (2) Can the President and two-thirds of the Senate, by the sole fact of their consent to a treaty, empower Congress to enact legislation that it otherwise could not enact by the exercise of its enumerated powers in Article I? Was a single passing statement in Missouri v. Holland , 252 U.S. 416 (1920) --@ "(i]f the treaty is valid**... "there can be no dispute about the validity of the statute" -meant to expand Congress' authority? (3) May the United States prosecute its citizen without the consent of the foreign sovereign where the crime was committed? Does the holding in The Schooner Exchange v. McFaddon , 11 U.S. (7 Cranch) 116, 136 (1812) and its progeny -that "[t]he jurisdiction of the nation within its own territory is necessarily exclusive and absolute," unless it expressly or impliedly consents to surrender it -apply only in extradition proceedings where the foreign sovereign is requesting the defendant? i

Docket Entries

2026-02-11
Waiver of United States of right to respond submitted.
2026-02-11
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2025-12-05
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due February 23, 2026)

Attorneys

James Arbaugh
James Daniel Arbaugh — Petitioner
James Daniel Arbaugh — Petitioner
James Daniel Arbaugh — Petitioner
United States
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent