18 U.S.C. § 1860
Section 1860 · Bids at land sales
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 12 court decisions — leading case United States v. Cassel (2005)
Most recently applied in 9 Cal. 5th 147 - People v. Fayed (April 2020)
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 bargains, contracts, or agrees, or attempts to bargain, contract, or agree with another that such other shall not bid upon or purchase any parcel of lands of the United States offered at public sale; or
Whoever, by intimidation, combination, or unfair management, hinders, prevents, or attempts to hinder or prevent, any person from bidding upon or purchasing any tract of land so offered for sale—
Shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §113 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §59, 35 Stat. 1099).
Imprisonment provision was reduced from “two years” to “one year,” thus placing the offense in the category of misdemeanors which may be prosecuted on information. The lesser punishment seems adequate.
Minor changes were made in phraseology and arrangement.