Mann Act: 36 Stat. 825 (Chapter 395, Public, No. 277), 25 June 1910
Chapter 395 of the 61st Congress, "An Act To further regulate interstate and foreign commerce by prohibiting the transportation therein for immoral purposes of women and girls". Section 2 made that transportation a felony punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, up to five years in prison, or both.
- Date
- 1910-06-25
- Kind
- case-file
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- Docket
- 36 Stat. 825 (61st Cong., 2d Sess., ch. 395; Public No. 277)
- Rights
- An Act of Congress, a federal work in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The text was read from the Library of Congress's digitised United States Statutes at Large; the page image stored here is the Library of Congress scan of that page.
Page 825 of volume 36 of the Statutes at Large prints, with the margin date June 25, 1910 and the note “[Public, No. 277.]”, Chapter 395: “An Act To further regulate interstate and foreign commerce by prohibiting the transportation therein for immoral purposes of women and girls, and for other purposes.” Section 1 defines “interstate commerce” and “foreign commerce” for the Act.
Section 2 makes it a felony for “any person who shall knowingly transport or cause to […] be transported, or aid or assist in obtaining transportation for, or in […] transporting, in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or in the District of Columbia, any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose” (36 Stat. 825, sec. 2; the marks […] stand for margin notes that interrupt the text in the Library of Congress OCR). The penalty is a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, imprisonment of not more than five years, or both.
The words “Mann Act” are not printed on the page. The margin beside the enacting clause reads “White slave traffic act.” The FBI’s history timeline says: “Congress passed the White Slave Traffic Act, also known as the Mann Act. The new law significantly increased the Bureau of Investigation’s jurisdiction over interstate crime.” The 1970 RICO definition of racketeering activity lists “sections 2421-24 (relating to white slave traffic)” of title 18; see the RICO page.
Only page 825 was read. The same page also prints the end of Chapter 393 and Chapter 394, on court terms in western Oklahoma. The image stored here is the Library of Congress scan of page 825.