18 U.S.C. § 7
Section 7 · Special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States defined
Amended 6 times on record
Applied in 481 court decisions — leading case Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. City of Cleveland (1972)
Most recently applied in United States v. Victor Everette Silvers (February 2025)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (52 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 13 · 18 U.S.C. § 113 · 18 U.S.C. § 1111
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) An interlocutory appeal by the United States taken before or after the defendant has been placed in jeopardy shall lie to a court of appeals from a decision or order of a district court in a criminal case authorizing the disclosure of classified information, imposing sanctions for nondisclosure of classified information, or refusing a protective order sought by the United States to prevent the disclosure of classified information.
(b) An appeal taken pursuant to this section either before or during trial shall be expedited by the court of appeals. Prior to trial, an appeal shall be taken within fourteen days after the decision or order appealed from and the trial shall not commence until the appeal is resolved. If an appeal is taken during trial, the trial court shall adjourn the trial until the appeal is resolved and the court of appeals (1) shall hear argument on such appeal within four days of the adjournment of the trial, excluding intermediate weekends and holidays, (2) may dispense with written briefs other than the supporting materials previously submitted to the trial court, (3) shall render its decision within four days of argument on appeal, excluding intermediate weekends and holidays, and (4) may dispense with the issuance of a written opinion in rendering its decision. Such appeal and decision shall not affect the right of the defendant, in a subsequent appeal from a judgment of conviction, to claim as error reversal by the trial court on remand of a ruling appealed from during trial.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2009—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–16, §4(1), substituted "fourteen days" for "ten days".
Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 111–16, §4(2), inserted "excluding intermediate weekends and holidays," after "adjournment of the trial,".
Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 111–16, §4(3), inserted "excluding intermediate weekends and holidays," after "argument on appeal,".
Effective Date of 2009 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 111–16 effective Dec. 1, 2009, see section 7 of Pub. L. 111–16, set out as a note under section 109 of Title 11, Bankruptcy.