18 U.S.C. § 959
Section 959 · Enlistment in foreign service
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners of NM (1957)
Most recently applied in United States v. Apodaca (August 2017)
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) Whoever, within the United States, enlists or enters himself, or hires or retains another to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted or entered in the service of any foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people as a soldier or as a marine or seaman on board any vessel of war, letter of marque, or privateer, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
(b) This section shall not apply to citizens or subjects of any country engaged in war with a country with which the United States is at war, unless such citizen or subject of such foreign country shall hire or solicit a citizen of the United States to enlist or go beyond the jurisdiction of the United States with intent to enlist or enter the service of a foreign country. Enlistments under this subsection shall be under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Army.
(c) This section and sections 960 and 961 of this title shall not apply to any subject or citizen of any foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people who is transiently within the United States and enlists or enters himself on board any vessel of war, letter of marque, or privateer, which at the time of its arrival within the United States was fitted and equipped as such, or hires or retains another subject or citizen of the same foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people who is transiently within the United States to enlist or enter himself to serve such foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people on board such vessel of war, letter of marque, or privateer, if the United States shall then be at peace with such foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§22, 30 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §§10, 18, 35 Stat. 1089, 1091; May 7, 1917, ch. 11, 40 Stat. 39).
Section consolidates said sections of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed. Last sentence of section 30 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., relating to piracy and treason, was omitted as unnecessary.
Words “within the United States” were substituted for “within the jurisdiction” etc., in view of the definition of United States in section 5 of this title.
References in subsection (c) to sections 960 and 961 of this title are to the only other sections to which the subsection can apply.
Mandatory punishment provision was rephrased in the alternative.
Minor changes were made in phraseology.
Amendments
1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000”.
Canal Zone
Applicability of section to Canal Zone, see section 14 of this title.