Federal District Court of American Samoa Act of 2006

H.R. 4711, the Federal District Court of American Samoa Act of 2006, proposed the establishment of a permanent federal district court within the U.S. territory of American Samoa. Currently, American Samoa is the only inhabited U.S. territory without its own federal court, meaning federal cases arising there are typically handled by courts in Hawaii or Washington, D.C.

If enacted, this bill would have allowed residents to resolve federal legal matters—such as federal crimes, civil rights cases, and maritime disputes—locally rather than traveling thousands of miles to the mainland. The bill also outlined the appointment of a federal judge, a U.S. Attorney, and a U.S. Marshal to serve the district, bringing the territory's judicial infrastructure in line with other U.S. territories like Guam and the Virgin Islands.