Sean “Diddy” Combs was convicted Wednesday of prostitution-related offenses under the federal Mann Act, an anti-sex trafficking law with a century-old history.
Though he was acquitted of more serious charges, Combs was still convicted of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, to engage in paid sexual encounters.
Over the years, the law has been applied to prominent convictions, including R&B superstar R. Kelly, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, musician Chuck Berry and more than a century ago, boxer Jack Johnson.
Its broad wording and a subsequent Supreme Court interpretation once allowed prosecutors to bring cases against interracial couples, and eventually many others in consensual relationships, according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.
The law was amended in the 1980s and today it is primarily used for prosecuting interstate prostitution crimes or people accused of taking underage children across state lines for sexual purposes.
Here’s what to know about the law.
Why is it called the Mann Act?
In 1910, Congress passed the bill, which was named after Republican U.S. Rep. James Robert Mann of Illinois.
It’s also known as the “White-Slave Traffic Act” of 1910.
How does it apply to Combs’ case?
Combs was convicted of counts involving two former girlfriends: the R&B singer Cassie and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane.
Both women said at trial that Combs had pressured them into degrading sex marathons with strangers, who were paid for the sexual performances. Jane said she was once beaten by Combs for declining to participate. Cassie said that when she tried to walk out of one such event, Combs beat her and dragged her down a hotel hallway.
Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges but convicted of transporting people to engage in prostitution.
What’s the history behind it?
The 1910 law originally prohibited the interstate or foreign commerce transport of “any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.” It followed a 1907 congressionally appointed commission to look into the issue of immigrant sex workers, with the view that a girl would only enter prostitution if drugged or held captive, according to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute.
The law was used to secure a conviction against Jack Johnson, who became the first Black boxer to win a world heavyweight title in 1910. Johnson was convicted in 1913 by an all-white jury for traveling with his white girlfriend, who worked as a sex worker, in violation of the Mann Act.
(President Donald Trump posthumously pardoned Johnson in 2018, saying Johnson had served 10 months in prison “for what many view as a racially motivated injustice.”)
How has the law changed since 1910?
In a 1917 Supreme Court case, the justices ruled that “illicit fornication,” even when consensual, amounted to an “immoral purpose,” according to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute.
A 1986 update made the law gender-neutral and effectively ended the act’s role in trying to legislate morality by changing “debauchery” and “immoral purpose” to “any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense.”
The act received additional amendments in 1978 and 1994 to address issues of sexual exploitation of children.
Nevertheless, Combs ‘ legal team made a motion last February to dismiss a Mann Act charge, writing that the law “has a long and troubling history as a statute with racist origins.”
Prosecutors said there was nothing racist about pursuing charges under the act. Most of Combs’ accusers are people of color.
