Also known as: navies · naval forces
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A military sea force of a country that includes its ships and personnel. The U.S. Constitution empowers Congress to provide and maintain a navy and to make rules for its government and regulation.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Nestor Navarro, a sailor on active duty aboard a Navy destroyer during declared hostilities, faces court-martial for an alleged capital offense committed at sea. Federal prosecutors seek to proceed without a grand jury indictment. The exception for cases arising in the naval forces applies, so the proceeding moves forward without violating the Fifth Amendment requirement.
Congress passes a statute appropriating funds to construct additional submarines and recruit personnel for the Navy. The legislation is challenged as exceeding enumerated powers. The power to provide and maintain a navy supplies the constitutional basis, allowing the appropriation to stand.
President Noah Nakamura, acting as Commander in Chief, directs a Navy carrier strike group to conduct operations in international waters. Naval officers question whether the order requires additional congressional approval. The constitutional designation of the President as Commander in Chief of the Navy authorizes the directive without further legislative action.
A U.S. Navy vessel seizes an enemy merchant ship on the high seas during wartime. The captured vessel is brought into port for adjudication. The constitutional grant of authority over captures on water supports the Navy's action and the subsequent prize proceedings.
The federal government initiates eminent domain proceedings to acquire waterfront land. Property owners challenge the taking as lacking a public purpose. The acquisition satisfies the public-use requirement under the Takings Clause when tied to an enumerated power.
The Navy implements a hiring preference for veterans that disproportionately affects female applicants. A rejected female candidate alleges unconstitutional sex discrimination. The preference survives because there is no showing of discriminatory intent against women.
No. The Fifth Amendment expressly excepts cases arising in the land or naval forces when in actual service in time of war or public danger. This exception permits court-martial proceedings without a grand jury indictment for service members.
Supporting sources
Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power to provide and maintain a Navy and to make rules for the government and regulation of the naval forces. This clause supplies the explicit textual basis for naval legislation.
…to lay and collect taxes, to borrow money, to regulate commerce, to declare and conduct war, and to raise and support armies and navies. A Government entrusted with such ample powers must also be intrusted with ample means for their execution. It cannot be presumed the framers intended to impede execution by withholding…
…Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas," cl. 10. It might not even need the power to raise and support an Army and Navy, cls. 12 and 13, for fewer people would engage in commercial shipping if they thought that a foreign power could expropriate their property with ease. Indeed, if Congress could regulate…
…or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be…
…explanatory, and introduced ex abundanti cautela. It might be as well contended; that the power "to provide and maintain a navy," did not include the power to regulate and govern it, because there is in the constitution an express provision to this effect. And yet I suppose that no person would doubt that congress,…
…term "veterans" in gender-neutral language. See 1896 Mass. Acts, ch. 517 § 1 ("a person" who served in the United States Army or
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The President holds that position. Article II, Section 2 designates the President as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States and of the Militia when called into federal service.
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Yes. The power to declare war and make rules concerning captures on land and water includes authority to authorize executive officers to effect captures and to regulate their disposition.
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The government may take property for naval purposes when the acquisition is necessary and proper to an enumerated power, provided just compensation is paid. Navy shipyards qualify as a public use supporting eminent domain.
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Yes, when the preference is substantially related to an important governmental objective such as remedying past discrimination against women in naval service.
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