18 U.S.C. § 1792
Section 1792 · Mutiny and riot prohibited
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 71 court decisions — leading case United States v. Wagner (1987)
Most recently applied in United States v. Michael Hendrickson (February 2020)
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.
Whoever instigates, connives, willfully attempts to cause, assists, or conspires to cause any mutiny or riot, at any Federal penal, detention, or correctional facility, shall be imprisoned not more than ten years or fined under this title, 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., §252 (May 18, 1934, ch. 303, §1, 48 Stat. 782).
Escape provisions of this section were incorporated in section 752 of this title.
Reference to persons causing, procuring, aiding and assisting was omitted. Such persons are principals under section 2 of this title.
Minor changes were made in translation and phraseology.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $25,000”.
1986—Pub. L. 99–646 inserted “, detention,” after “penal”.
1984—Pub. L. 98–473 substituted provisions deleting prohibition on bringing dangerous instrumentalities into prison and inserted provision setting forth a maximum $25,000 fine.
Effective Date of 1986 Amendment
Section 53(b) of Pub. L. 99–646 provided that: “The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect 30 days after the enactment of this Act [Nov. 10, 1986].”
Cross References
Bureau of Prisons employees, power to arrest without warrant for violations of this section, see section 3050 of this title.