278
Opinion of the Court
On a 2-to-1 vote, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed respondent's § 924(c)(1) conviction. United States v. Palma-Ruedas, 121 F. 3d 841 (1997). A majority of the Third Circuit panel applied what it called the "verb test" to § 924(c)(1), and determined that a violation of the statute is committed only in the district where a defendant "uses" or "carries" a firearm. Id., at 849. Accordingly, it concluded that venue for the § 924(c)(1) count was improper in New Jersey even though venue was proper there for the kidnaping of Avendano. The dissenting judge thought that the majority's test relied too much "on grammatical arcana," id., at 865, and argued that the proper approach was to "look at the substance of the statutes in question," ibid. In his view, the crime of violence is an essential element of the course of conduct that Congress sought to criminalize in enacting § 924(c)(1), and therefore, "venue for a prosecution under [that] statute lies in any district in which the defendant committed the underlying crime of violence." Id., at 863. The Government petitioned for review on the ground that the Third Circuit's holding was in conflict with a decision of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, United States v. Pomranz, 43 F. 3d 156 (1995). We granted certiorari, 524 U. S. 915 (1998), and now reverse.
II
Article III of the Constitution requires that "[t]he Trial of all Crimes . . . shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed." Art. III, § 2, cl. 3. Its command is reinforced by the Sixth Amendment's requirement that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed," and is echoed by Rule 18 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure ("prosecution shall be had in a district in which the offense was committed").
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