Shanghaiing sailors
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
Whoever, with intent that any person shall perform service or labor of any kind on board of any vessel engaged in trade and commerce among the several States or with foreign nations, or on board of any vessel of the United States engaged in navigating the high seas or any navigable water of the United States, procures or induces, or to procure or induce, another, by force or threats or by representations which he knows or believes to be untrue, or while the person so procured or induced is intoxicated or under the influence of any drug, to go on board of any such vessel, or to sign or in anywise enter into any agreement to go on board of any such vessel to perform service or labor thereon; or
Whoever knowingly detains on board of any such vessel any person so procured or induced to go on board, or to enter into any agreement to go on board, by any means herein defined—
Shall be or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
History: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 800 (PDF, 39 MB); Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, §601(a)(8), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3498.)
Simplified explanation
It is a federal crime to get someone to board or sign up to work on a commercial or U.S. ship by force, threats, lies, or while the person is drunk or drugged ("shanghaiing"). It is also a crime to knowingly keep such a person on board.