Federal statute that criminalized the interstate movement of women for prostitution or other immoral purposes.
Congress enacted the Mann Act in 1910 to comply with an international treaty prohibiting the movement of prostitutes between nations and to respond to domestic hysteria that a conspiracy of coerced prostitution, so-called “white slavery,” was flourishing in U.S. cities. It prohibited the interstate transportation of women for “prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.” The legislative history is clear beyond serious argument that Congress did not intend the law to address premarital sex or extramarital affairs, not commercial in nature, that involved a woman crossing a state line.
In Hoke v. United States
Caminetti v. United States
Although the Court occasionally revisited the Mann Act and further refined its meaning, Hoke and Caminetti are the most significant cases. During the 1910’s and 1920’s the act was vigorously enforced, especially in noncommercial interstate travel involving unmarried couples. As American mores changed, it was increasingly used to combat prostitution, its original purpose. Ultimately in 1986 Congress amended the law, changing the prohibition to apply to interstate transportation of women for prostitution or any other sexual activity that is punishable by law. Interstate travel involving legal, noncommercial sexual activity was no longer a federal felony.
Langum, David J. Crossing Over the Line: Legislating Morality and the Mann Act. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Champion v. Ames
Commerce, regulation of
Constitutional interpretation
Progressivism