Jurisdiction on Bones?

[Stormborn]

I have started to watch Bones (FOX, Wednesday nights) on occasion. It falls into the "entertaining but OK if I miss it" catagory of viewing. The one question I have is this: given that Booth works for the FBI, what makes their cases Federal crimes? The dead body found in the state police training exercise - OK I can see how that may be handled by the FBI to prevent potential conflict of interests. But the artist found in the smashed car? The bisected corpse of the transgender pastor? Unless they think the killer crossed state lines shouldn't these all be matters for the local police? I haven't seen many episodes and maybe that now its the fourth season there is some piece of information that is taken as a given but I don't get why the FBI has jurisdiction in these cases.

 

[Hand of Evil]

FBI has some broad powers...On Bones, they do play loose but they show up and determine they are is a need for them to be there.

1. Counterterrorism
• International Terrorism
• Domestic Terrorism
• Weapons of Mass Destruction

2. Counterintelligence
• Counterespionage
• Counterproliferation
• Economic Espionage

3. Cyber Crime
• Computer Intrusions
• Online Predators
• Piracy/Intellectual Property Theft
• Internet Fraud

4. Public Corruption
• Government Fraud
• Election Fraud
• Foreign Corrupt Practices

5. Civil Rights
• Hate Crime
• Human Trafficking
• Color of Law
• Freedom of Access to Clinics

6. Organized Crime
• Italian Mafia/LCN
• Eurasian
• Balkan
• Middle Eastern
• Asian
• African
• Sports Bribery

7. White-Collar Crime
• Antitrust
• Bankruptcy Fraud
• Corporate/Securities Fraud
• Health Care Fraud
• Identity Theft
• Insurance Fraud
• Money Laundering
• Mortgage Fraud
• Telemarketing Fraud
• More White-Collar Frauds

8. Major Thefts/Violent Crime
• Art Theft
• Cargo Theft
• Crimes Against Children
• Cruise Ship Crime
• Indian Country Crime
• Jewelry and Gems Theft
• Retail Theft
• Vehicle Theft
• Violent Gangs

 

[Stormborn]

Yeah, but what you list covers a lot of territory, and not all of it is actually a federal crime. Stealing a car, for example, would be "Vehicle theft" but no local police are going to call the FBI in and no Federal judge would hear the case unless it did have to do with organized crime. I was hoping that maybe someone could tell me what the explanation was in show, or that there wasn't one.

 

[Mouseferatu]

The show hasn't really dealt with that question much.

That being said, my understanding is that any case can become FBI jurisdiction if the locals ask the Feds for assistance. And since Dr. Brennan is the best forensic anthropologist available--or the only one, it sometimes seems --my guess is that any case that requires her expertise pretty much requires the locals ask for FBI help, in order to get her.

But that's all me just spitballing. The short answer is "Because it's a TV show."

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I think this falls under the same category as; "why do the CSI on CSI have pistols?" For the reason Mos said, it's a TV show.

 

[Stormborn]

The show hasn't really dealt with that question much.

That being said, my understanding is that any case can become FBI jurisdiction if the locals ask the Feds for assistance. And since Dr. Brennan is the best forensic anthropologist available--or the only one, it sometimes seems --my guess is that any case that requires her expertise pretty much requires the locals ask for FBI help, in order to get her.

But that's all me just spitballing. The short answer is "Because it's a TV show."

Yeah, I figured it had to come down to the asking and they were just glossing over it. The advice of MST3K comes up again "repeat to yourself 'It's just a show, I should really just relax...'"

 

[Vigilance]

Reminds me of the conversation the X-Files guys had with their FBI expert. Apparently Gillian Anderson was too tiny to fire the standard issue Baretta 92's the FBI used on the show, even firing blanks. It would just fly out of her hand.

So the crew says to the FBI technical expert they hired "so this is our problem, she can't fire the Beretta, what happens if a real FBI recruit can't fire the standard issue service weapon?"

And the answer they got was "then they don't become FBI agents."

So the people on the show absorbed this for a second, and then went and found a smaller gun for the actress to use.

 

[Hand of Evil]

From the show's bio:

Most law enforcement can't handle Brennan's intelligence, her drive for the truth, or the way she flings herself headlong into every investigation. SPECIAL AGENT SEELEY BOOTH (David Boreanaz) of the FBI's Homicide Investigations Unit is the exception.

So, she is called in to help on a crime but police can't work with her. So, she has an FBI handler/go-between. I guess this means, the FBI is not solving the cases, just providing assistance on them.

 

[Eridanis]

In the first season, there were a couple of episodes where Bones specifically asks at the beginning "what is the FBI doing here?", and Booth has an jurisdiction explanation. So it's not forgotten by the scriptwriters. (Or at least the scriptwriters from the first two seasons, which is all I've caught up on on DVD.)

 

[Umbran]

FBI has some broad powers...

*nod*. Any federal crime is likely to be an FBI case. I believe kidnapping falls under this heading.

Also, any crime that crosses state lines can become FBI jurisdiction. Theft of a car may normally be only a matter for State or Local police, but if The thief crosses a state line with it, it can become a federal matter. Similarly, a murder may be a local issue - a serial killer that strikes in multiple states is a federal issue.

On Bones, many of the crimes have evidence gathered from multiple states (like Virginia, Delaware, and DC), so they can be FBI cases.