18 U.S.C. § 3285
Section 3285 · Criminal contempt
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 11 court decisions — leading case United States v. Miller (1978)
Most recently applied in In Re Grand Jury Proceeding (June 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.
No proceeding for criminal contempt within section 402 of this title shall be instituted against any person, corporation or association unless begun within one year from the date of the act complained of; nor shall any such proceeding be a bar to any criminal prosecution for the same act.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on section 390 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Judicial Code and Judiciary (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, §25, 38 Stat. 740).
Word “criminal” was inserted before “contempt” in first line. Words “within section 402 of this title” were inserted after “contempt”.
The correct meaning and narrow application of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §390, are preserved, as section 389 of that title is incorporated in sections 402 and 3691 of this title.
Words “corporation or association” were inserted after “person”, thus embodying applicable definition of section 390a of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed. (See reviser's note under section 402 of this title.)
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Criminal contempt procedure, see rule 42, Appendix to this title.
Cross References
Criminal contempts constituting criminal offenses, see section 402 of this title.
Insurance business, application of section to, see sections 1011 to 1015 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.