18 U.S.C. § 1655
Section 1655 · Assault on commander as piracy
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case United States v. Denson (1979)
Most recently applied in 3 F. Supp. 3d 515 - United States v. Said (February 2014)
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, being a seaman, lays violent hands upon his commander, to hinder and prevent his fighting in defense of his vessel or the goods intrusted to him, is a pirate, and shall be imprisoned for life.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §485 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §294, 35 Stat. 1146).
A minor verbal change was made.