48 U.S.C. § 1561 : US Code - Section 1561: Rights and prohibitions

Search 48 U.S.C. § 1561 : US Code - Section 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 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 (!1) 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 (!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 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.