Sean “Diddy” Combs is ready to be sentenced Friday for violating the federal Mann Act, an anti-prostitution legislation with a century-old historical past.
Though he was acquitted of intercourse trafficking and racketeering prices, Combs was convicted in July of flying folks across the nation, together with his girlfriends and male intercourse employees, to interact in paid sexual encounters.
The Mann Act makes it unlawful to move somebody throughout state strains for the aim of prostitution or different unlawful intercourse acts.
Over time, the legislation has been used to prosecute R&B celebrity R. Kelly, Jeffrey Epstein companion Ghislaine Maxwell, musician Chuck Berry and, greater than a century in the past, boxer Jack Johnson.
Its broad wording and a subsequent Supreme Courtroom interpretation as soon as allowed prosecutors to convey circumstances towards interracial {couples}, and finally many others in consensual relationships, in keeping with Cornell Legislation College’s Authorized Info Institute.
The legislation was amended within the Nineteen Eighties and at the moment lots of Mann Act prosecutions contain folks accused of taking kids throughout state strains for sexual functions.
This is what to know in regards to the legislation.
Why it is known as the Mann Act
In 1910, Congress handed the invoice, which was named after Republican U.S. Rep. James Robert Mann of Illinois.
It’s also called the “White-Slave Traffic Act” of 1910.
The way it applies to Combs’ case
Combs was convicted of counts involving two former girlfriends: the R&B singer Cassie and a lady who testified underneath the pseudonym Jane.
Each ladies mentioned at trial that Combs had pressured them into degrading intercourse marathons with strangers, who have been paid for the sexual performances. Jane mentioned she was as soon as overwhelmed by Combs for declining to take part. Cassie mentioned that when she tried to stroll out of 1 such occasion, Combs beat her and dragged her down a resort hallway.
Combs was acquitted of intercourse trafficking and racketeering prices however convicted of transporting folks to interact in prostitution.
The historical past behind the legislation
The 1910 legislation initially prohibited the interstate or international transport of “any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.” It adopted a 1907 congressionally appointed fee to look into the problem of immigrant intercourse employees, with the view {that a} lady would solely enter prostitution if drugged or held captive, in keeping with Cornell College’s Authorized Info Institute.
The legislation was used to safe a conviction towards Jack Johnson, who turned the primary Black boxer to win a world heavyweight title in 1910. Johnson was convicted in 1913 by an all-white jury for touring along with his white girlfriend, who labored as a intercourse employee, in violation of the Mann Act.
President Donald Trump posthumously pardoned Johnson in 2018, saying Johnson had served 10 months in jail “for what many view as a racially motivated injustice.”
How the legislation has modified since 1910
In a 1917 Supreme Courtroom case, the justices dominated that “illicit fornication,” even when consensual, amounted to an “immoral function,” in keeping with Cornell’s Authorized Info Institute.
A 1986 replace made the legislation gender-neutral and successfully ended the act’s position in making an attempt to legislate morality by altering “debauchery” and “immoral purpose” to “any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense.”
The act obtained further amendments in 1978 and 1994 to handle problems with sexual exploitation of youngsters.
How a lot jail time may Combs get?
Prosecutors have requested the choose to condemn Combs to greater than 11 years in jail. Combs’ legal professionals have mentioned he must be sentenced to not more than a yr, arguing that testimony throughout the trial about alleged violent acts towards ladies and others wasn’t a part of the conviction.
