18 U.S.C. § 1958 — Use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire

The record shows that this section was added by Public Law 98–473, title II, § 1002(a), enacted October 12, 1984, and originally codified as 18 U.S.C. § 1952A. The source credit indicates it was renumbered as § 1958 and amended by Public Law 100–690 in 1988, and subsequently amended by Public Law 101–647 (1990), Public Law 103–322 (1994), Public Law 104–294 (1996), and Public Law 108–458 (2004). The source credit lists six amendment actions in total, spanning two decades, though it does not itself describe the substance of each change. Public Law 98–473 is the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, a broad federal crime bill enacted during a period of heightened congressional attention to organized crime, drug trafficking, and violent crime more generally. The Act is generally understood to have expanded federal criminal jurisdiction in several areas, including sentencing reform and new substantive offenses. The creation of a federal murder-for-hire offense tied to use of interstate commerce facilities is commonly understood to reflect a legislative judgment that contract killings arranged across state lines, or by means of interstate communication or travel, warranted a specific federal criminal remedy rather than reliance solely on state homicide law. Beyond this general understanding of the 1984 Act's era and purpose, the record does not establish the specific legislative intent behind this particular section, nor does it document the reasons for each subsequent amendment listed in the source credit.