18 U.S.C. § 2382
Section 2382 · Misprision of treason
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Keys v. United States Department of Justice (1987)
Most recently applied in 890 F. Supp. 2d 424 - Hedges v. Obama (September 2012)
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, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, 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., §3 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §3, 35 Stat. 1088).
Mandatory punishment provision was rephrased in the alternative.
Amendments
1994—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.
Cross References
Federal retirement benefits, forfeiture upon conviction of offenses under this section, see section 8312 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Forfeiture of veterans’ benefits upon conviction under this section, see section 6105 of Title 38, Veterans’ Benefits.
Misprision of felony, see section 4 of this title.