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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 258. Commitment and discharge
If, on such examination, it is made to appear that the person so
arrested is a citizen of the United States, he shall be forthwith
discharged from arrest, and shall be left to the ordinary course of
law. But if this is not made to appear, and such court, judge, or
magistrate judge finds, upon the papers referred to in section 257
of this title, a sufficient prima facie case that the matter
concerns only the internal order and discipline of such foreign
vessel, or whether in its nature civil or criminal, does not affect
directly the execution of the laws of the United States, or the
rights and duties of any citizen of the United States, he shall
forthwith, by his warrant, commit such person to prison, where
prisoners under sentence of a court of the United States may be
lawfully committed, or, in his discretion, to the master or chief
officer of such foreign vessel, to be subject to the lawful orders,
control, and discipline of such master or chief officer, and to the
jurisdiction of the consular or commercial authority of the nation
to which such vessel belongs, to the exclusion of any authority or
jurisdiction in the premises of the United States or any State
thereof. No person shall be detained more than two months after his
arrest, but at the end of that time shall be set at liberty and
shall not again be arrested for the same cause. The expenses of the
arrest and the detention of the person so arrested shall be paid by
the consular officers making the application: Provided, That
nothing in this section or section 257 of this title shall
authorize the arrest or imprisonment of officers and seamen
deserting or charged with desertion from merchant vessels of
foreign nations in the United States and Territories and
possessions thereof, and the cooperation, aid, and protection of
competent legal authorities in effecting such arrest or
imprisonment.
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