18 U.S.C. § 2261
Section 2261 · Interstate domestic violence
This is § 40221 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
Amended 5 times on record
Applied in 120 court decisions — leading case 134 S. Ct. 1405 - United States v. Castleman (2014)
Most recently applied in United States v. Chad Mink (July 2024)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 1201 · 18 U.S.C. § 922 · 18 U.S.C. § 924
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 person who travels in interstate or foreign commerce or enters or leaves Indian country or is present within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States with the intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner, and who, in the course of or as a result of such travel or presence, commits or attempts to commit a crime of violence against that spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
A person who causes a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner to travel in interstate or foreign commerce or to enter or leave Indian country by force, coercion, duress, or fraud, and who, in the course of, as a result of, or to facilitate such conduct or travel, commits or attempts to commit a crime of violence against that spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
A person who violates this section or section 2261A shall be fined under this title, imprisoned—
for life or any term of years, if death of the victim results;
for not more than 20 years if permanent disfigurement or life threatening bodily injury to the victim results;
for not more than 10 years, if serious bodily injury to the victim results or if the offender uses a dangerous weapon during the offense;
as provided for the applicable conduct under chapter 109A if the offense would constitute an offense under chapter 109A (without regard to whether the offense was committed in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison); and
for not more than 5 years, in any other case,
or both fined and imprisoned.
Whoever commits the crime of stalking in violation of a temporary or permanent civil or criminal injunction, restraining order, no-contact order, or other order described in section 2266 of title 18, United States Code, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 1 year.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendment of Section
For effective date of amendment by Pub. L. 113–4, see Effective Date of 2013 Amendment note below.
Amendments
2013—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 113–4 inserted “is present” after “Indian country or” and “or presence” after “as a result of such travel”.
2006—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 109–162, § 117(a), inserted “or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States” after “Indian country”.
Pub. L. 109–162, § 116(a)(1), which directed substitution of “, intimate partner, or dating partner” for “or intimate partner”, was executed by making the substitution in two places to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 109–162, § 116(a)(2), which directed substitution of “, intimate partner, or dating partner” for “or intimate partner”, was executed by making the substitution in two places to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
Subsec. (b)(6). Pub. L. 109–162, § 114(b), added par. (6).
2000—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–386 added subsec. (a) and struck out heading and text of former subsec. (a). Text read as follows:
“(1) Crossing a state line.—A person who travels across a State line or enters or leaves Indian country with the intent to injure, harass, or intimidate that person’s spouse or intimate partner, and who, in the course of or as a result of such travel, intentionally commits a crime of violence and thereby causes bodily injury to such spouse or intimate partner, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
“(2) Causing the crossing of a state line.—A person who causes a spouse or intimate partner to cross a State line or to enter or leave Indian country by force, coercion, duress, or fraud and, in the course or as a result of that conduct, intentionally commits a crime of violence and thereby causes bodily injury to the person’s spouse or intimate partner, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).”
1996—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–201 inserted “or section 2261A” after “this section” in introductory provisions and substituted “victim” for “offender’s spouse or intimate partner” in pars. (1) to (3).
Effective Date of 2013 Amendment
Pub. L. 113–4, § 4, Mar. 7, 2013, 127 Stat. 64, provided that: “Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act [see Tables for classification], the provisions of titles I, II, III, IV, VII, and sections 3, 602, 901, and 902 of this Act shall not take effect until the beginning of the fiscal year following the date of enactment of this Act [Mar. 7, 2013].”