18 U.S.C. § 5031 - Definitions

• Cite as: 18 U.S.C. § 5031

For the purposes of this chapter, a "juvenile" is a person who has not attained his eighteenth birthday, or for the purpose of proceedings and disposition under this chapter for an alleged act of juvenile delinquency, a person who has not attained his twenty-first birthday, and "juvenile delinquency" is the violation of a law of the United States committed by a person prior to his eighteenth birthday which would have been a crime if committed by an adult or a violation by such a person of section 922(x).

Cite as 18 U.S.C. § 5031

Source: June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 857; Pub. L. 93-415, title V, §501, Sept. 7, 1974, 88 Stat. 1133; Pub. L. 103-322, title XI, §110201(c)(1), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2012.

Notes from the Office of Law Revision Counsel

current through 5/22/2023

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §921 (June 16, 1938, ch. 486, §1, 52 Stat. 764).

The phrase "who has not attained his eighteenth birthday" was substituted for "seventeen years of age or under" as more clearly reflecting congressional intent and administrative construction. The necessity of a definite fixing of the age of the juvenile was emphasized by Hon. Arthur J. Tuttle, United States district judge, Detroit, Mich., in a letter to the Committee on Revision of the Laws dated June 24, 1944. Words "an offense against the" was changed to "the violation of a" without change of substance.