Reina v. United States

The Narcotic Control Act of 1956,1 18 U. S. C. § 1406, legislates immunity from prosecution for a witness compelled under the section by court order to testify before a federal grand jury investigating alleged violations of the federal narcotics laws. The questions presented are, primarily, whether the section grants immunity from *509state, as well as federal, prosecution, and, if state immunity, whether the section is constitutional.

The petitioner was serving a five-year sentence for a federal narcotics offense2 when, on December 5, 1958, he was subpoenaed before a federal grand jury sitting in…