Congress must pass laws criminalizing activities. Common law crimes do not exist on the federal level. Decided February 13, 1812. Opinion of the Court: William Johnson → go there Topic: Other areas. United States v. Hudson and Goodwin, 11 U.S. 32 (1812), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that Congress must first enact a constitutional law criminalizing an activity, attach a penalty, and give the federal courts jurisdiction over the offense in order for the court to render a conviction. In other words, there is no federal common law of crimes. Wiki link