18 U.S.C. § 26
Section 26 · Definition of seaport
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Zimmerman v. Walker (1942)
Most recently applied in Twitter, Inc. v. Merrick Garland (March 2023)
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.
As used in this title, the term “seaport” means all piers, wharves, docks, and similar structures, adjacent to any waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to which a vessel may be secured, including areas of land, water, or land and water under and in immediate proximity to such structures, buildings on or contiguous to such structures, and the equipment and materials on such structures or in such buildings.