§ 115. — Influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a Federal official by threatening or injuring a family member.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 18USC115]
TITLE 18--CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I--CRIMES
CHAPTER 7--ASSAULT
Sec. 115. Influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a
Federal official by threatening or injuring a family member
(a)(1) Whoever--
(A) assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts or conspires to
kidnap or murder, or threatens to assault, kidnap or murder a member
of the immediate family of a United States official, a United States
judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or an official whose
killing would be a crime under section 1114 of this title; or
(B) threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a United States
official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement officer,
or an official whose killing would be a crime under such section,
with intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with such official,
judge, or law enforcement officer while engaged in the performance of
official duties, or with intent to retaliate against such official,
judge, or law enforcement officer on account of the performance of
official duties, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
(2) Whoever assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts or conspires
to kidnap or murder, or threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, any
person who formerly served as a person designated in paragraph (1), or a
member of the immediate family of any person who formerly served as a
person designated in paragraph (1), with intent to retaliate against
such person on account of the performance of official duties during the
term of service of such person, shall be punished as provided in
subsection (b).
(b)(1) An assault in violation of this section shall be punished as
provided in section 111 of this title.
(2) A kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, or conspiracy to kidnap in
violation of this section shall be punished as provided in section 1201
of this title for the kidnapping or attempted kidnapping of, or a
conspiracy to kidnap, a person described in section 1201(a)(5) of this
title.
(3) A murder, attempted murder, or conspiracy to murder in violation
of this section shall be punished as provided in sections 1111, 1113,
and 1117 of this title.
(4) A threat made in violation of this section shall be punished by
a fine under this title or imprisonment for a term of not more than 10
years, or both, except that imprisonment for a threatened assault shall
not exceed 6 years.
(c) As used in this section, the term--
(1) ``Federal law enforcement officer'' means any officer,
agent, or employee of the United States authorized by law or by a
Government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention,
detection, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of Federal
criminal law;
(2) ``immediate family member'' of an individual means--
(A) his spouse, parent, brother or sister, child or person
to whom he stands in loco parentis; or
(B) any other person living in his household and related to
him by blood or marriage;
(3) ``United States judge'' means any judicial officer of the
United States, and includes a justice of the Supreme Court and a
United States magistrate judge; and
(4) ``United States official'' means the President, President-
elect, Vice President, Vice President-elect, a Member of Congress, a
member-elect of Congress, a member of the executive branch who is
the head of a department listed in 5 U.S.C. 101, or the Director of
the Central Intelligence Agency.
(d) This section shall not interfere with the investigative
authority of the United States Secret Service, as provided under
sections 3056, 871, and 879 of this title.
(Added Pub. L. 98-473, title II, Sec. 1008(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat.
2140; amended Pub. L. 99-646, Secs. 37(a), 60, Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat.
3599, 3613; Pub. L. 100-690, title VI, Sec. 6487(f)[b], Nov. 18, 1988,
102 Stat. 4386; Pub. L. 101-647, title XXXV, Sec. 3508, Nov. 29, 1990,
104 Stat. 4922; Pub. L. 101-650, title III, Sec. 321, Dec. 1, 1990, 104
Stat. 5117; Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXIII, Secs. 330016(2)(C),
330021(1), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148, 2150; Pub. L. 104-132, title
VII, Secs. 723(a), 727(b), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1300, 1302; Pub. L.
107-273, div. B, title IV, Sec. 4002(b)(9), div. C, title I,
Sec. 11008(c), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1808, 1818.)
Amendments
2002--Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 107-273, Sec. 4002(b)(9), substituted
``or attempted kidnapping of, or a conspiracy to kidnap, a person'' for
``, attempted kidnapping, or conspiracy to kidnap of a person''.
Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 107-273, Sec. 11008(c), substituted ``10''
for ``five'' and ``6'' for ``three''.
1996--Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 723(a)(1), inserted
``or conspires'' after ``attempts''.
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 727(b)(1), which directed
insertion of ``, or threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, any person
who formerly served as a person designated in paragraph (1), or'' after
``assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts to kidnap or murder'', was
executed by making the substitution after ``assaults, kidnaps, or
murders, or attempts or conspires to kidnap or murder'' to reflect the
probable intent of Congress and the amendment by Pub. L. 104-132,
Sec. 723(a)(1). See below.
Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 723(a)(1), inserted ``or conspires'' after
``attempts''.
Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 723(a)(2), substituted ``,
attempted kidnapping, or conspiracy to kidnap'' for ``or attempted
kidnapping'' in two places.
Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 723(a)(3), substituted ``,
attempted murder, or conspiracy to murder'' and ``, 1113, and 1117'' for
``or attempted murder'' and ``and 1113'', respectively.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 727(b)(2), added subsec. (d).
1994--Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 330021(1), substituted
``kidnapping'' for ``kidnaping'' in two places.
Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 330016(2)(C), substituted
``fine under this title'' for ``fine of not more than $5,000''.
1990--Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 101-647 substituted ``the Central''
for ``The Central''.
1988--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100-690 amended subsec. (a) generally.
Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: ``Whoever assaults,
kidnaps, or murders, or attempts to kidnap or murder, or threatens to
assault, kidnap or murder a member of the immediate family of a United
States official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement
officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime under section
1114 of this title, or threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a United
States official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement
officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime under such
section with intent to impede, intimidate, interfere with, or retaliate
against such official, judge or law enforcement officer while engaged in
or on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished
as provided in subsection (b).''
1986--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 60, substituted ``section
1114 of this title, or threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a United
States official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement
officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime under such
section'' for ``18 U.S.C. 1114, as amended,'', ``while engaged'' for
``while he is engaged'', and ``official duties'' for ``his official
duties''.
Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 37(a), inserted ``for the
kidnapping or attempted kidnapping of a person described in section
1201(a)(5) of this title''.
Change of Name
``United States magistrate judge'' substituted for ``United States
magistrate'' in subsec. (c)(3) pursuant to section 321 of Pub. L. 101-
650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary and
Judicial Procedure.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of the functions, personnel, assets, and obligations of
the United States Secret Service, including the functions of the
Secretary of the Treasury relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland
Security, and for treatment of related references, see sections 381,
551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the
Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25,
2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 21, 1956, 2261A, 2516, 4243
of this title.
