10 U.S.C. § 894
Section 894 · Art. 94. Mutiny or sedition
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 19 court decisions — leading case United States v. Crossley (1981)
Most recently applied in Stoltz v. Commonwealth (August 2019)
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) Any person subject to this chapter who—
(1) with intent to usurp or override lawful military authority, refuses, in concert with any other person, to obey orders or otherwise do his duty or creates any violence or disturbance is guilty of mutiny;
(2) with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of lawful civil authority, creates, in concert with any other person, revolt, violence, or other disturbance against that authority is guilty of sedition;
(3) fails to do his utmost to prevent and suppress a mutiny or sedition being committed in his presence, or fails to take all reasonable means to inform his superior commissioned officer or commanding officer of a mutiny or sedition which he knows or has reason to believe is taking place, is guilty of a failure to suppress or report a mutiny or sedition.
(b) A person who is found guilty of attempted mutiny, mutiny, sedition, or failure to suppress or report a mutiny or sedition shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
894(b) 50:688(a).50:688(b). May 5, 1950, ch. 169, §1 (Art. 94), 64 Stat. 136. In subsection (a)(1) and (2), the words “or persons” are omitted, since, under section 1 of title 1, words importing the singular may apply to several persons.
In subsection (a)(3), the word “a” is substituted for the words “an offense of”. The words “commissioned officer” are inserted after the word “superior”, for clarity.
Cross References
Article to be explained, see section 937 of this title.
Federal offenses—
Advocating overthrow of Government, see section 2385 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.
Mutiny affecting armed forces generally and during war, see sections 2387 and 2388 of Title 18.
Mutiny of seamen, see sections 2192, 2193 of Title 18.
Seditious conspiracy, see section 2384 of Title 18.
Forfeiture of veterans’ benefits upon conviction under this section, see section 6105 of Title 38, Veterans’ Benefits.
Plea of guilty, prohibition against reception, see section 845 of this title.
Solicitation of offense, see section 882 of this title.
Statute of limitations, see section 843 of this title.