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Title 18 — Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Part I · Chapter 45 — Foreign Relations

§ 958. Commission to serve against friendly nation

Statutory text

Any citizen of the United States who, within the jurisdiction thereof, accepts and exercises a commission to serve a foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people, in war, against any prince, state, colony, district, or people, with whom the United States is at peace, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Pub. L. 80–645 · 62 Stat. 683

    Enacted · 18 U.S.C. § 958

    June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 745

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 745

  2. Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994

    Pub. L. 103–322 title XXXIII § 330016(1)(I) · 108 Stat. 1796

    Substituted · 18 U.S.C. § 958

    Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $2,000”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $2,000”.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (I) in sections 331, 482, 486, 499, 755, 873, 958, 1016, 1154, 1156, 1381, 1542, 1543, 1544, 1545, 1586, 1621, 1622, 1702, 1708, 1709, 1920, 1921, 1923, 2071, 2193, 2233, 2386, and 2424 by striking “not more than $2,000” each place it appears and inserting “under this title”;

1 of 2 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 1 partial

Notes

Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 21 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, § 9, 35 Stat. 1089).

Mandatory punishment provision was rephrased in the alternative.

Minor changes in phraseology were made.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $2,000”.

Credits

1948–1994 · 2 acts
  1. 1948June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 745
  2. 1994Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(I), , 108 Stat. 2147.
Show as published

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 745; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(I), , 108 Stat. 2147.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc18.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-05-04

USLM identifier /us/usc/t18/s958