Can you be charged for breaking US laws abroad?
<p>Say you commit a robbery in a country outside of the US. However robbery is legal in that country. If you come back to the USA, can you be charged?</p>

<p>Robbery is a state-level crime. The federal government has staked out limited possibilities for prosecution for crimes committed outside of the US (including numerous extended versions of &quot;US soil&quot; such as US vessels in international waters), and there are federal laws declared to be applicable within foreign countries. There is no general federal law against robbery, though there are a number of limited <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/part-I/chapter-103" rel="nofollow noreferrer">federal laws against robbery</a> (bank robbery, postal robbery, breaking or entering carrier facilities).
Federal law simply does not apply to stealing a TV from a person's house, that is a state crime.</p>
<p>There are different state-level treatments of extraterritoriality, as discussed in <a href="https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/53/3/53-3_Dodge.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this article</a>, with a near even split among the states as to whether a state presumes that its laws apply outside the state, that its laws are assumed to not apply outside the state, or there is no clear presumption. We can take the case of <a href="https://casetext.com/case/state-v-jack-30" rel="nofollow noreferrer">State v. Jack</a>, 125 P.3d 311, where the defendant was charged with sexual assault on an Alaskan vessel in Canadian waters. The Alaskan Supreme Court found that the state had jurisdiction for a crime committed in Canada for two reasons. First, Alaskan law (AS 44.03.010(2)) says that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The jurisdiction of the state extends to water offshore from the coast
of the state as follows:... (2) the high seas to the extent that
jurisdiction is claimed by the United States of America, or to the
extent recognized by the usages and customs of international law or by
agreement to which the United States of America or the state is a
party</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>AS 44.03.030(1) This chapter does not limit or restrict (1) the
jurisdiction of the state over a person or subject inside or outside
the state that is exercisable by reason of citizenship, residence, or
another reason recognized by law</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In this case, because the crime took place on a US vessel outside the US, Alaska could and did claim jurisdiction – under Alaskan law – because the federal government could have. So the answer in part is &quot;it depends on state law&quot;, that is, has the state statutorily claimed jurisdiction for that kind of act?</p>
<p>Theoretically, a state could make it a crime for a resident to commit robbery in a foreign country where robbery was not a crime (to the extent that a state presumes extraterritorial jurisdiction for a crime). No state has done so.</p>

<h2><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritorial_jurisdiction" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Extraterritorial jurisdiction</a></h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the external territory (except by the exercise of force), it must be agreed either with the legal authority in the external territory, or with a legal authority that covers both territories. When unqualified, ETJ usually refers to such an agreed jurisdiction, or it will be called something like &quot;claimed ETJ&quot;.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some nations (e.g. France) claim ETJ over all their citizens everywhere. Others (e.g. the US) claim limited ETJ.</p>
<p>US laws are not extraterritorial except:</p>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li><p>The high seas and any other waters within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and out of the jurisdiction of any particular state, including any vessels owned by US persons that are travelling on them[28]</p>
</li>
<li><p>Any US vessel travelling on the Great Lakes, connecting waters or the Saint Lawrence River (where that river forms part of the Canada–United States</p>
</li>
<li><p>Any lands reserved or acquired for the use of the United States, and under the exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction thereof</p>
</li>
<li><p>Any island claimed under the Guano Islands Act</p>
</li>
<li><p>Any US aircraft flying over waters in the same manner as US vessels</p>
</li>
<li><p>Any US spacecraft when in flight</p>
</li>
<li><p>Any place outside the jurisdiction of any nation with respect to an offense by or against a national of the United States[29]</p>
</li>
<li><p>Any foreign vessel during a voyage having a scheduled departure from or arrival in the United States with respect to an offense committed by or against a national of the United States</p>
</li>
<li><p>Offenses committed by or against a national of the United States in diplomatic missions, consulates, military and other missions, together with related residences, outside the US</p>
</li>
<li><p>International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act</p>
</li>
<li><p>Any law that is explicitly extraterritorial in its text</p>
</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>In general, theft is going to be covered by local jurisdiction everywhere so US law will not apply unless it happens in the US or falls into one of the above categories.</p>

united-states international