# Carlin Act

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{{Short description|1913 law of the United States Congress}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{refimprove|date=February 2023}}

The '''Carlin Act''' of 1913, sponsored by Rep. [Charles Creighton Carlin](/source/Charles_Creighton_Carlin) (D) of [Virginia](/source/Virginia) and signed into law by President [William Howard Taft](/source/William_Howard_Taft), was an [Act of the United States Congress](/source/Act_of_Congress) that made [larceny](/source/larceny) from interstate carriers a [felony](/source/felony) and a [federal crime](/source/federal_crime).

An amendment to the Carlin Act was introduced by Rep. [Leonidas C. Dyer](/source/Leonidas_C._Dyer) (R) of [Missouri](/source/Missouri) and passed by the [68th United States Congress](/source/68th_United_States_Congress), expanding its scope to cover any "station house, platform, depot, wagon, automobile, truck, or other vehicle" associated with freight or express shipments. The amended act provided a fine of not more than $5,000, imprisonment for more than 10 years, or both, and stated that a crime could be prosecuted in whichever district it was committed.<ref name="cincinnatian">{{cite news |title=Carlin Bill Amended to Further Protect Shippers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EcfyT56RdJkC |access-date=24 February 2023 |agency=The Cincinnatian |issue=3–4}}</ref> President [Calvin Coolidge](/source/Calvin_Coolidge) signed the amendment in 1925.<ref name="pacificmarine">{{cite news |last1=Howell |first1=Charles F. |title=Developments of the Month |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5D8fAQAAMAAJ |access-date=24 February 2023 |agency=Pacific Marine Review |issue=22 |date=October 1925}}</ref>

The Carlin Act was amended again in January 1933, making it a violation not only to break open or rob [boxcar](/source/boxcar)s involved in interstate commerce, but also to "obtain by any fraudulent device, scheme, or game, any  moneys, baggage, goods, or chattels,  from any passenger while on a passenger car, sleeping car, or dining car, in a train moving in interstate commerce."<ref name="fbi">{{cite news |title=Railroad Police Cooperate with FBI in Theft from Interstate Shipment Cases |url=https://leb.fbi.gov/file-repository/archives/june-1939.pdf |access-date=24 February 2023 |agency=FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin |date=1 June 1939}}</ref> According to the report of the committee on the bill, this was prompted by reports of passengers on [Pullman](/source/Pullman_Company) berths being robbed at night while they were sleeping. In such a situation, the committee said, "the thief [could] not be prosecuted under the Carlin Act, because the property is taken from the possession or custody of the passenger and not from the carrier."<ref name="seventysecond">{{cite web |title=Congressional Record: Seventy-Second Congress, First Session |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1932-pt13-v75/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1932-pt13-v75-1.pdf |website=govinfo.gov |access-date=24 February 2023}}</ref>

==References==
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Category:1913 in American law
Category:62nd United States Congress
Category:United States federal criminal legislation
Category:United States federal legislation articles needing infoboxes

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Carlin Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlin_Act) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlin_Act?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.