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1934-05-18

govinfo, United States Statutes at Large, vol. 48

Act of 18 May 1934, ch. 299, 48 Stat. 780: punishment for killing or assaulting federal officers

The first of the May 1934 federal crime laws: "An Act to provide punishment for killing or assaulting Federal officers." The National Archives ties John Paul Chase's conviction for the killing at Barrington to this act.

Date: 1934-05-18
Kind: case-file
Source: govinfo, United States Statutes at Large, vol. 48
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Rights: An Act of Congress printed in the United States Statutes at Large. A United States government work, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The page is served by govinfo.

Page 780 of volume 48 of the Statutes at Large prints chapter 299 of the Seventy-third Congress, S. 2080, Public No. 230, approved May 18, 1934: “An Act to provide punishment for killing or assaulting Federal officers.” It makes it a federal crime to kill a listed class of federal officers, among them agents of the Division of Investigation, while engaged in, or on account of, their official duties. The text continues on page 781 with the provision on forcible resistance.

The National Archives’ description of United States vs. John Paul Chase cites this act, “Public Act No. 230, 73rd Congress, Approved May 18, 1934,” as the law under which Chase was convicted for the killing of a Division agent at Barrington. Only page 780 is the source of this page; the act’s later history is not traced here.

itemThe United States of America vs. John Paul Chase (No. 28680): the Barrington killings, 1934Federal criminal case at Chicago over the killing of Inspector Samuel P. Cowley and Special Agent Herman E. Hollis at Barrington, Illinois on 27 November 1934. The National Archives says Chase was convicted under the Act of 18 May 1934.item48 Stat. 781: Acts of 18 May 1934 on extortion threats (ch. 300) and amending the federal kidnaping act (ch. 301)Statutes at Large page 781: the end of chapter 299, chapter 300 making it a federal crime to send ransom or extortion threats in interstate commerce, and the start of chapter 301 amending the Act of 22 June 1932 on interstate kidnaping.itemAct of 18 May 1934, ch. 304, 48 Stat. 783: the federal bank robbery actThe May 1934 act making robbery of a national bank or a Federal Reserve member bank a federal crime, with higher penalties for assault, use of a dangerous weapon, and killing or kidnaping in the course of the robbery.itemAct of 18 June 1934, ch. 595, 48 Stat. 1008: Division of Investigation agents empowered to make arrests and carry firearmsThe June 1934 act empowering the Director, agents and inspectors of the Division of Investigation to serve warrants, make seizures, make arrests without warrant for federal felonies in stated circumstances, and "carry firearms."

itemStatement by President Roosevelt on signing the crime bills, 18 May 1934 (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library)The President's statement on signing the May 1934 federal crime bills, which he calls "a renewed challenge on the part of the Federal government to interstate crime." The marked-up draft includes the line "Federal men are constantly facing machine-gun fire in the pursuit of gangsters."