18 U.S.C. § 4
Section 4 · Misprision of felony
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 843 court decisions — leading case Dirks v. Securities & Exchange Commission (1983)
Most recently applied in Wudi Industrial (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. v. Wai Wong (July 2025)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (39 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 12 U.S.C. § 4 · 13 U.S.C. § 4 · 15 U.S.C. § 4
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, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, 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., §251 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §146, 35 Stat. 1114).
Changes in phraseology only.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted "fined under this title" for "fined not more than $500".