42 U.S.C. § 2274
Section 2274 · Communication of Restricted Data
Amended 6 times on record
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Kinsella v. United States Ex Rel. Singleton (1960)
Most recently applied in 612 F. App'x 504 - United States v. Mascheroni (June 2015)
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, lawfully or unlawfully, having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document, writing, sketch, photograph, plan, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information involving or incorporating Restricted Data—
(a) communicates, transmits, or discloses the same to any individual or person, or attempts or conspires to do any of the foregoing, with intent to injure the United States or with intent to secure an advantage to any foreign nation, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for life, or by imprisonment for any term of years or a fine of not more than $100,000 or both;
(b) communicates, transmits, or discloses the same to any individual or person, or attempts or conspires to do any of the foregoing, with reason to believe such data will be utilized to injure the United States or to secure an advantage to any foreign nation, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $50,000 or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2000—Cl. (b). Pub. L. 106–398 substituted “$50,000” for “$500,000”.
1999—Cl. (a). Pub. L. 106–65, §3148(a)(1), substituted “$100,000” for “$20,000”.
Cl. (b). Pub. L. 106–65, §3148(a)(2), substituted “$500,000” for “$10,000”.
1969—Pub. L. 91–161 made death penalty inapplicable for willful violation, or attempted violation of this section with intent to injure the United States, or secure an advantage for any foreign nation.
Effective Date of 2000 Amendment
Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title X, §1087(g)(9)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–294, provided that the amendment made by that section is effective as of Oct. 5, 1999.
Effective Date of 1969 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 91–161 applicable to offenses committed on or after Dec. 24, 1969, see section 7 of Pub. L. 91–161, set out as a note under section 2272 of this title.
Transfer of Functions
Atomic Energy Commission abolished and functions transferred by sections 5814 and 5841 of this title. See also Transfer of Functions notes set out under those sections.