18 U.S.C. § 1117 — Conspiracy to murder

This section addresses conspiracy to commit murder under specific federal laws. It applies when two or more people conspire to violate section 1111, 1114, 1116, or 1119 of this title. Those are separate murder statutes in this title. The conspirators must agree to violate one of those sections. That agreement alone triggers this section only if something more happens. At least one person involved must also do an overt act. That act must be aimed at carrying out, or effecting, the conspiracy's object. The section does not say what qualifies as an overt act beyond that. If the agreement and the overt act both happen, each person who conspired can be punished. The punishment is imprisonment. A court can impose any number of years. A court can also impose a life sentence. The section applies this same punishment to each person who was part of the conspiracy, once the overt-act requirement is met.

The record shows that this section was added by Public Law 92-539, title I, section 101, enacted October 24, 1972, and published at 86 Stat. 1071. The source credit further indicates that the section was later amended by Public Law 103-322, title VI, section 60009(b)(1), enacted September 13, 1994, and published at 108 Stat. 1972. Beyond these two legislative actions, the source credit does not describe additional amendment history. Public Law 92-539 is generally identified with legislation enacted in 1972 addressing crimes against internationally protected persons, including diplomats and foreign officials, reflecting concerns of that era about political violence and attacks on diplomatic personnel both domestically and abroad. Congress at the time is commonly understood to have been responding to a series of high-profile incidents involving assassinations, kidnappings, and terrorist acts directed at diplomats, and sought to establish federal criminal jurisdiction and penalties for such offenses, including conspiracies to commit them. The 1994 amendment coincides with the broader Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of that year, a large omnibus crime bill; however, the specific legislative purpose behind the particular amendment to this section is not established by the record provided. Accordingly, while general historical context for the 1972 enactment can be offered with appropriate qualification, the precise congressional intent behind the specific statutory language, including the choice of predicate offenses listed, is not documented here and should not be assumed.