48 U.S.C. § 1561 — Rights and prohibitions

Page 142 TITLE 48—TERRITORIES AND INSULAR POSSESSIONS § 1545 shall hereafter be made to the Secretary of the Interior, and the President is authorized to place all matters pertaining to the government of the Virgin Islands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, except matters re- lating to the judicial branch of said government which on July 22, 1954 are under the supervision of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, and the matters relat- ing to the United States Attorney and the United States Marshal which on July 22, 1954 are under the supervision of the Attorney General. (July 22, 1954, ch. 558, § 30, 68 Stat. 509.) § 1545. Lease and sale of public property; convey- ance of title in certain lands to the govern- ment of Virgin Islands (a) The Secretary of the Interior shall be au- thorized to lease or to sell upon such terms as he may deem advantageous to the Government of the United States any property of the United States under his administrative supervision in the Virgin Islands not needed for public pur- poses. (b)(1) All right, title, and interest of the United States in the property placed under the control of the government of the Virgin Islands by section 1405c(a) of this title, not reserved to the United States by the Secretary of the Inte- rior within one hundred and twenty days after October 5, 1974, is hereby conveyed to such gov- ernment. The conveyance effected by the pre- ceding sentence shall not apply to that land and other property which on October 5, 1974, is ad- ministered by the Secretary of the Interior as part of the National Park System and such lands and other property shall be retained by the United States. (2) Subject to valid existing rights, title to all property in the Virgin Islands which may have been acquired by the United States from Den- mark under the Convention entered into August 16, 1916, not reserved or retained by the United States in accordance with the provisions of Pub- lic Law 93–435 (88 Stat. 1210) is hereby trans- ferred to the Virgin Islands government. (July 22, 1954, ch. 558, § 31, 68 Stat. 510; Pub. L. 93–435, § 3, Oct. 5, 1974, 88 Stat. 1211; Pub. L. 96–205, title IV, § 401(a), Mar. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 88.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Public Law 93–435 (88 Stat. 1210), referred to in subsec. (b)(2), is Pub. L. 93–435, Oct. 5, 1974, 88 Stat. 1210, which enacted sections 1705 to 1708 of this title, amended this section, and repealed sections 1701 to 1703 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. AMENDMENTS 1980—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 96–205 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2). 1974—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 93–435 substituted provi- sions conveying to the government of Virgin Islands title in lands now under its control with power to the Secretary of the Interior to reserve rights to the United States within 120 days after Oct. 5, 1974, with the exception of land and property being administered by the Secretary of the Interior as part of the National Park System, for provisions that the government of Virgin Islands shall continue to have control over all public property under its control on July 22, 1954. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SUBMERGED LANDS, CONVEYANCE TO TERRITORY Conveyance of submerged lands to the government of the Virgin Islands, see section 1701 et seq. of this title. § 1546. Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated annu- ally by the Congress of the United States such sums as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out the provisions and purposes of this chapter. (July 22, 1954, ch. 558, § 35, 68 Stat. 510.) SUBCHAPTER II—BILL OF RIGHTS § 1561. Rights and prohibitions 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 con- fronted 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 crimi- nal 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 en- gaged as attorney or prosecutor. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sure- ties 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 exces- sive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual pun- ishment 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 sus- pended 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 affir- mation, 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 peo- Page 143 TITLE 48—TERRITORIES AND INSULAR POSSESSIONS § 1571 1 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘assemble’’. 2 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘section’’. ple peaceably to assembly 1 and petition the gov- ernment for the redress of grievances. No law shall be made respecting an establish- ment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. No person who advocates, or who aids or be- longs to any party, organization, or association which advocates, the overthrow by force or vio- lence 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 govern- ment of the Virgin Islands. No money shall be paid out of the Virgin Is- lands 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 mar- riages 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 Is- lands, 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 ex- tent that they have not been previously ex- tended 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, sec- tion 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 2 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 Vir- gin 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 con- tinue to be prosecuted by information, except such as may be required by local law to be pros- ecuted 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. (July 22, 1954, ch. 558, § 3, 68 Stat. 497; Pub. L. 85–851, § 1, Aug. 28, 1958, 72 Stat. 1094; Pub. L. 90–496, § 11, Aug. 23, 1968, 82 Stat. 841; Pub. L. 98–213, § 5(d), Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1460; Pub. L. 98–454, title VII, § 701, Oct. 5, 1984, 98 Stat. 1737.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original ‘‘this Act’’, meaning act July 22, 1954, ch. 558, 68 Stat. 497, known as the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Is- lands, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1541 of this title and Tables. AMENDMENTS 1984—Pub. L. 98–454 substituted provisions to the ef- fect that offenses prosecuted under section 1612(a) and (c) of this title shall be prosecuted by indictment or in- formation while those prosecuted under section 1612(b) of this title shall be prosecuted by information only, for provisions which provided that all prosecutions would be by information except where provided other- wise by local laws in the proviso in penultimate par. 1983—Pub. L. 98–213 inserted ‘‘article VI, clause 3;’’ in penultimate par. 1968—Pub. L. 90–496 inserted provisions extending to the Virgin Islands the enumerated provisions of and amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and provisions repealing, to the extent of any incon- sistency, all laws enacted by Congress with respect to the Virgin Islands and all laws enacted by the terri- torial legislature of the Virgin Islands which are incon- sistent with the provisions of this section. 1958—Pub. L. 85–851 prohibited political or religious test but required loyalty oath as qualification to any office or public trust. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1984 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 98–454 effective on ninetieth day following Oct. 5, 1984, see section 1005 of Pub. L. 98–454, set out as a note under section 1424 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1968 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 90–496, § 11, Aug. 23, 1968, 82 Stat. 841, provided that the amendment made by that section is effective on the date of enactment of Pub. L. 90–496, which was approved Aug. 23, 1968. SUBCHAPTER III—LEGISLATIVE BRANCH § 1571. Legislature (a) Designation and unicameral character The legislative power and authority of the Virgin Islands shall be vested in a legislature, consisting of one house, to be designated the ‘‘Legislature of the Virgin Islands’’, herein re- ferred to as the legislature. (b) Composition; legislative districts; method of elections The legislature shall be composed of members to be known as senators. The number of such senators shall be determined by the laws of the Virgin Islands. The apportionment of the legis- lature shall be as provided by the laws of the Virgin Islands: Provided, That such apportion- ment shall not deny to any person in the Virgin Islands the equal protection of the law: And pro- vided further, That every voter in any district election or at large election shall be permitted to vote for the whole number of persons to be elected in that district election or at large elec- tion as the case may be. Until the legislature shall provide otherwise, four members shall be elected at large, five shall be elected from the District of Saint Thomas, five from the District