U.S. Marshals

In the past few weeks in my AP United States History class, we have been learning about John Marshall and certain Supreme Court decisions, such as Marbury v. Madison, and Dartmouth College v. Woodward. However, during a lecture, my teacher talked about how the Supreme Court had no authority to enforce the law that it declared. As a result, a question came to mind: How does the Supreme Court enforce its laws? I tried to answer this question, and soon found out that the U.S. Marshal Service is a separate U.S. agency that is the enforcement arm of U.S. Federal Courts. It was founded by the Judiciary Act of 1789, which stated that the U.S. Marshals' main function was law enforcement. Thus, they are the oldest American federal law enforcement office. Here are some pictures of the responsibilities of the U.S. Marshal Service.

Some of the main responsibilities of a U.S. Marshal include: protection of the officers of the court, assistance in court security/prison transport, and for seeking fugitives. Through the years, the U.S. Marshals have done many interesting missions. Some examples of these missions are enforcing Prohibition during the 1920s, protecting American athletes during the Olympics, and being in charge of law enforcement of U.S. personnel in Antarctica since 1989. As you can see, the U.S Marshal Service is quite an exciting job, and is one that I found intriguing. Hopefully, I have helped you grow a passion for criminal justice jobs, just like I do.