Is there something that preempts a local DA from prosecuting a railroad EMPLOYEE (not the corporation) for reckless conduct that endangers or kills people in the local jurisdiction? Is there a Federal Preemption problem?

[This message was edited by Les on 10-18-06 at .]

[This message was edited by Les on 10-20-06 at .]

Corporate criminal liability is pretty tough to get under the penal code. I'm not sure the Feds can preempt criminal law. All preemption stuff I've ever seen dealt with civil stuff. Criminal law deals with the police power of the state government, which is an area dealt mainly to the States, right? In order to go there, Congress would have to somehow say that homicide affects interstate commerce . . .

Well, I found a case saying that regulations promulgated under the FRSA do not preempt state criminal law. Bhd. of Locomotive Eng'rs v. Rossi, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40017. That sounds pretty promising. That case cites to 49 CFR 219.13, which basically states the no preemption rule. You probably need to check the FRSA for a specific preemption provision as well.