The authority to declare what acts shall constitute crimes, and to provide for the trial and punishment thereof, is a branch of the general police power primarily belonging to the states. (See above, § 49.) No matter how serious the offence may be, if it is only an offence against the general security of person or property which the law seeks to afford, or against the general public peace and welfare, it is within the jurisdiction of the state; and the proceedings and punishment with reference thereto will be controlled by the laws of the state, subject only to the specific limitations on state power found in the federal constitution, such as that no state shall pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto law (Art. I, § 10; see below, §59), nor deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws (Amend. XIV). Any state legislation as to crime is, of course, subject to the limitations of the state constitution, among which are usually found provisions as to ex post facto laws, due process of law, trial for the graver crimes only on indictment, the right of trial by jury, and other like guaranties. (See ch. xlii.) It is sufficient for the present to say that the general criminal jurisdiction is with the state government, and only those acts affecting the safety of the federal government or interfering with its exercise of the powers granted to it, can be made crimes under federal law.