18 U.S.C. § 1112
Section 1112 · Manslaughter
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 404 court decisions — leading case United States v. Sharpnack (1958)
Most recently applied in United States v. Robert Cottier (July 2025)
Applied most in the Eighth Circuit Circuit (71 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 1111 · 18 U.S.C. § 3553 · 28 U.S.C. § 1291
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice. It is of two kinds:
Voluntary—Upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion.
Involuntary—In the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or in the commission in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection, of a lawful act which might produce death.
(b) Within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States,
Whoever is guilty of voluntary manslaughter, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both;
Whoever is guilty of involuntary manslaughter, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§453, 454 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §§274, 275, 35 Stat. 1143).
Section consolidates punishment provisions of sections 453 and 454 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed.
The special maritime and territorial jurisdiction provision was added in view of definitive section 7 this title.
Minor changes were made in phraseology.
Amendments
2008—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 110–177 substituted “15 years” for “ten years” in second par. and “8 years” for “six years” in last par.
1996—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–294 repealed Pub. L. 103–322, §320102(2). See 1994 Amendment note below.
1994—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–322, §330016(1)(H), substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000” in last par.
Pub. L. 103–322, §320102(3), substituted “six years” for “three years” in last par.
Pub. L. 103–322, §320102(2), which provided for amendment identical to Pub. L. 103–322, §330016(1)(H), above, was repealed by Pub. L. 104–294, §604(b)(13).
Pub. L. 103–322, §320102(1)(B), which directed the amendment of subsec. (b) by inserting “, or both” after “years”, was executed by inserting the material after “years” in second par., which was the first place the word appeared in text, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
Pub. L. 103–322, §320102(1)(A), inserted “fined under this title or” after “shall be” in second par.
Effective Date of 1996 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 104–294 effective Sept. 13, 1994, see section 604(d) of Pub. L. 104–294, set out as a note under section 13 of this title.