Major Crimes Act
Why It Matters
Congress's answer to Crow Dog: placed a list of serious offenses committed by Indians in Indian country under federal jurisdiction, the first direct federal intrusion into internal tribal criminal law.
Official Text
§1153. Offenses committed within Indian country
(a) Any Indian who commits against the person or property of another Indian or other person any of the following offenses, namely, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, maiming, a felony under chapter 109A, incest, a felony assault under section 113, an assault against an individual who has not attained the age of 16 years, felony child abuse or neglect, arson, burglary, robbery, and a felony under section 661 of this title within the Indian country, shall be subject to the same law and penalties as all other persons committing any of the above offenses, within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States.
(b) Any offense referred to in subsection (a) of this section that is not defined and punished by Federal law in force within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States shall be defined and punished in accordance with the laws of the State in which such offense was committed as are in force at the time of such offense.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 758; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, §26, 63 Stat. 94; Pub. L. 89–707, §1, Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1100; Pub. L. 90–284, title V, §501, Apr. 11, 1968, 82 Stat. 80; Pub. L. 94–297, §2, May 29, 1976, 90 Stat. 585; Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §1009, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2141; Pub. L. 99–303, May 15, 1986, 100 Stat. 438; Pub. L. 99–646, §87(c)(5), Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3623; Pub. L. 99–654, §3(a)(5), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3663; Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, §7027, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4397; Pub. L. 103–322, title XVII, §170201(e), title XXXIII, §330021(1), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2043, 2150; Pub. L. 109–248, title II, §215, July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 617; Pub. L. 113–4, title IX, §906(b), Mar. 7, 2013, 127 Stat. 125.)
Provenance
Original Source
Source Note
The Major Crimes Act as codified and amended at 18 U.S.C. § 1153, from the GPO edition of the U.S. Code.
License
Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
Length
307 words
Retrieved
Mon, 03 Aug 2026 19:26:58 GMT
SHA-256
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