Every captain, engineer, pilot, or other person employed on any steamboat or vessel, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his duties on such vessel the life of any person is destroyed, and every owner, charterer, inspector, or other public officer, through whose fraud, neglect, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law the life of any person is destroyed, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
When the owner or charterer of any steamboat or vessel is a corporation, any executive officer of such corporation, for the time being actually charged with the control and management of the operation, equipment, or navigation of such steamboat or vessel, who has knowingly and willfully caused or allowed such fraud, neglect, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law, by which the life of any person is destroyed, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §461 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §282, 35 Stat. 1144).
Section restores the intent of the original enactments, R.S. §5344, and act Mar. 3, 1905, ch. 1454, §5, 33 Stat. 1025, and makes this section one of general application. In the Criminal Code of 1909, by placing it in chapter 11, limited to places within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, such original intent was inadvertently lost as indicated by the entire absence of report or comment on such limitation.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted "fined under this title" for "fined not more than $10,000" in two places.
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