What Is The Mann Act? Understanding Diddy's 'Guilty' Verdict

The sex trafficking trial against Sean “Diddy” Combs captivated audiences for weeks. A jury ultimately rendered a verdict acquitting the disgraced mogul of the most serious charges and found him guilty on two counts of violating the Mann Act.

Diddy is an icon, but the Bad Boy Records founder has a mixed reputation. His contributions to music and the culture have earned him love and praise, but there have always been whispers of his abuse across the industry. It wasn’t until video of him assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie at the Intercontinental Hotel gave credence to the rumors. His mask had been torn away, and the monster underneath unveiled through hours of harrowing testimonies.

While the jury didn’t find him guilty of racketeering and conspiracy, aka RICO, Cassie’s brave testimony paved the way for him to be found accountable through the Mann Act.

What Is The Mann Act? 

The United States passed The Mann Act into law in 1910. James Robert Mann authored the law. Mann was an Illinois congressman with deep concerns about what he considered immoral behavior infiltrating the fabric of the nation, especially via the corruption of White women. Legislators called it the “White-Slave traffic Act” previously. It represented moral panics that followed the loosening of social restrictions following the Industrial Revolution. 

According to archives from the U.S. Department of Justice, this law currently “prohibits transporting any individual in interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in prostitution or other sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, and related crimes.” 

In 1910, the act had a broader definition. It stated women could not be transported across state lines “for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.” Citizens criticized for its broadness, prompting amendments.

Lawmakers updated the definition in the 1980s. They repealed the highly subjective phrase “immoral purpose.”

The jury in the Diddy trial heard from several self-professed sex workers. They described traveling to engage in the “freakoffs” that were at the center of the trial. The Mann Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine.

R. Kelly Was Also Charged Under The Mann Act 

The government prosecuted several other Black celebrities and other high-profile figures under the Mann Act. R. Kelly received Mann Act charges. Jurors convicted him of several counts of violating the Mann Act in 2021. Kelly attempted to have his convictions overturned on appeal recently. He was denied. 

The government used the law to prosecute the rock musician Chuck Berry and Jack Johnson, the first Black man to become a heavyweight boxing champion. 

Johnson was convicted in 1912, shortly after the law was enacted, despite the “prostitute” in question being his white girlfriend who would later become his wife. Berry’s 1960 arrest was fictionalized in the 2008 film Cadillac Records. 

Courts used the law to broadly condemn consensual interracial sex legally, in come cases. That does not explain every application. Johnson’s paramour, turned spouse, wholly refused to testify against him. Witnesses testified against Combs.

Each charge of the Mann Act carries a potential maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison. 

Diddy’s Lawyers React To Mann Act Charges 

Defense lawyers argued the Mann Act was being selectively enforced in Combs’ case. They accused prosecutors of being employed to destroy a successful Black man for engaging in a common, but technically criminal, practice, the New York Times reported.

Juries convict average people under the Mann act. But it is overall rare and “a very small percentage of prosecuted federal cases,” according to Bobby Taghavi, who spent over a decade serving at the Orange County District Attorney’s office, where he dealt with well-known cases and prosecuted violent sex offenders. He explained his understanding of the frequency of the law’s use in a statement to HelloBeautiful. 

“It is more commonly used in high-profile, complex, or cross-jurisdictional cases, such as cases involving transportation of minors, sex trafficking rings, and celebrities, or public figures,” continued Taghavi who is currently a National Managing Partner of the personal injury firm Sweet James. “Normally, such human trafficking and prostitution cases are prosecuted in State Court, and commonly in federal court it is a supplemental charge to RICO.” 

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and legal commentator, told PEOPLE that it’s likely Combs will get “little to no time.”

“He may even get time served and prostitution has a 10 year maximum,” he said. “But the fact that he was acquitted of the most serious counts. The government would not have brought this case had they thought they could only get prostitution.”

The court declined to release Combs after the verdict.

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What Is The Mann Act? Understanding Diddy’s ‘Guilty’ Verdict  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com