Abouammo v. United States · ¶13

Venue in criminal cases mattered more than might be supposed to the Nation’s Founders. Prior to the Revolution, Parliament enacted measures to try allegedly treasonous colonists in England, rather than in their home colonies. The legislation was so roundly despised as to make it into the Declaration of Independence. Among the “injuries and usurpations” listed there was the practice of “transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.” Declaration of Independence ¶21; see Smith v. United States, 599 U. S. 236, 246–247 (2023). After the Revolution, of course, the Founders no longer had to fear transportation overseas. But they retained strong feelings about “the unfairness and hardship involved when an accused is prosecuted in a remote place.” United States v. Cores, 356 U. S. 405, 407 (1958).

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