18 U.S.C. § 3581
Section 3581 · Sentence of imprisonment
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 101 court decisions — leading case United States v. LaBonte (1997)
Most recently applied in United States v. Rondell Hall (April 2023)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 3559 · 28 U.S.C. § 994 · 18 U.S.C. § 3553
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) In General.—A defendant who has been found guilty of an offense may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
(b) Authorized Terms.—The authorized terms of imprisonment are—
(1) for a Class A felony, the duration of the defendant's life or any period of time;
(2) for a Class B felony, not more than twenty-five years;
(3) for a Class C felony, not more than twelve years;
(4) for a Class D felony, not more than six years;
(5) for a Class E felony, not more than three years;
(6) for a Class A misdemeanor, not more than one year;
(7) for a Class B misdemeanor, not more than six months;
(8) for a Class C misdemeanor, not more than thirty days; and
(9) for an infraction, not more than five days.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Effective Date
Section effective Nov. 1, 1987, and applicable only to offenses committed after the taking effect of this section, see section 235(a)(1) of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as a note under section 3551 of this title.