18 U.S.C. § 16
Section 16 · Crime of violence defined
Amended 1 time on record
The circuits are split over this section — Whether the offense of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (DWI/DUI) qualifies as a 'crime of violence'
Applied in 1,601 court decisions — leading case Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Enrico St Cyr (2001)
Most recently applied in United States v. Steven Schreck (March 2025)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (153 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 924 · 8 U.S.C. § 1101 · 8 U.S.C. § 1227
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.
The term "crime of violence" means—
(a) an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, or
(b) any other offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Editorial Notes
Constitutionality
For information regarding the constitutionality of this section, as added by section 1001(a) of Pub. L. 98–473, see the Table of Laws Held Unconstitutional in Whole or in Part by the Supreme Court on the Constitution Annotated website, constitution.congress.gov.