Title 50, War and National DefenseRelease 119-73not60
§212 Confiscation of Property Employed to Aid Insurrection
Title 50 › Chapter 13— INSURRECTION › § 212
Summary
The President must seize and confiscate property that is used to help an insurrection, but only after the President issues a proclamation saying the laws are being opposed and enforcement is blocked by groups too strong for courts or marshals. If anyone — or their agent, attorney, or employee — buys, sells, gives, acquires, uses, or allows property to be used to help people resisting the laws, that property can be lawfully captured or seized wherever it is found.
Full Legal Text
Title 50, §212
War and National Defense, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Whenever during any insurrection against the Government of the United States, after the President shall have declared by proclamation that the laws of the United States are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the power vested in the marshals by law, any person, or his agent, attorney, or employee, purchases or acquires, sells or gives, any property of whatsoever kind or description, with intent to use or employ the same, or suffers the same to be used or employed in aiding, abetting, or promoting such insurrection or resistance to the laws, or any person engaged therein; or being the owner of any such property, knowingly uses or employs, or consents to such use or employment of the same, all such property shall be lawful subject of prize and capture wherever found; and it shall be the duty of the President to cause the same to be seized, confiscated, and condemned.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification R.S. § 5308 derived from act Aug. 6, 1861, ch. 60, § 1, 12 Stat. 319.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
50 U.S.C. § 212
Title 50, War and National Defense
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60