354 U.S. 1 (U.S. Supreme Court 1957)
Reid v. Covert is a landmark constitutional law decision at the intersection of the treaty power, military jurisdiction, and the extraterritorial application of the Bill of Rights.
Whether, in peacetime, Congress and the Executive—relying on the UCMJ and status-of-forces treaties or executive agreements—may subject civilian U.S. citizens accompanying the armed forces abroad to trial by court-martial, or whether the Fifth and Sixth Amendments require prosecution in an Article III court with indictment and jury trial.
The United States may not, by statute or treaty, deny constitutional protections that constrain federal action. Treaties and executive agreements, though the "supreme Law of the Land," cannot authorize what the Constitution forbids or expand governmental power beyond constitutional limits. Courts-martial are exceptional tribunals of limited jurisdiction, generally confined to members of the armed forces; civilian U.S. citizens in peacetime are entitled to Article III adjudication and the Fifth and Sixth Amendments' guarantees of grand jury indictment and trial by an impartial jury.
No. In peacetime, the Constitution prohibits subjecting civilian U.S. citizens accompanying the armed forces abroad to trial by court-martial for capital offenses. The court-martial convictions of Covert and Smith were invalid; they were entitled to Article III criminal process, including indictment and jury trial. Treaties or executive agreements cannot override these constitutional guarantees.
Reid v. Covert is a cornerstone for two propositions. First, it cements constitutional supremacy over treaties and executive agreements: no international compact can authorize domestic procedures that contravene explicit constitutional guarantees. Second, it sharply limits military jurisdiction over civilians, insisting that courts-martial remain exceptional. While the controlling opinion on rehearing was fractured, later decisions—Kinsella v. United States ex rel. Singleton, Grisham v. Hagan, and McElroy v. Guagliardo (1960)—extended Reid's logic to noncapital offenses and to civilian employees, confirming that, in peacetime, civilians cannot be tried by court-martial. The case remains a touchstone in courses on Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, National Security, and Foreign Relations, and it is frequently cited for the rule that the treaty power cannot circumvent the Constitution.