Federal Domestic Violence Crimes: When a Michigan Case Goes Federal

Domestic assault and stalking under Michigan law are charged under Michigan statutes and heard in Michigan district and circuit courts.^[7] Federal law adds a small group of offenses that apply when a person travels across a state line, enters or leaves Indian country, is within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or uses interstate communications: interstate domestic violence, federal stalking, and interstate violation of a protection order.^[1][2][3] Federal law also makes it a crime for certain people to possess firearms because of a domestic violence conviction or protection order.^[8][9]

These are offenses against the laws of the United States, and the United States district courts have original jurisdiction over them, exclusive of state courts.^[6] A person charged under one of these statutes is therefore in federal court, not in a Michigan district or circuit court.

This page describes what each federal statute covers, the penalties, the definitions that differ from Michigan's, and how the federal firearm provisions fit in.

The three federal offenses at a glance

Statute	Core conduct	Federal link
18 USC 2261, interstate domestic violence	Committing or attempting a crime of violence against a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner	Travel in interstate or foreign commerce, entering or leaving Indian country, or presence within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate; or causing the victim to travel by force, coercion, duress, or fraud[1]
18 USC 2261A, stalking	Conduct that places a person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or that causes or would reasonably be expected to cause substantial emotional distress	Interstate or foreign travel, entering or leaving Indian country, or presence within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction; or use of the mail, an electronic communication service, or another facility of interstate commerce[2]
18 USC 2262, interstate violation of a protection order	Conduct that violates the protective portion of a protection order	Travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or entering or leaving Indian country, with intent to violate the order; or causing the protected person to travel by force, coercion, duress, or fraud[3]

Interstate domestic violence: 18 USC 2261

Section 2261 has two forms. The first applies to a person who travels in interstate or foreign commerce, or enters or leaves Indian country, "with the intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner," and who in the course of or as a result of that travel commits or attempts to commit a crime of violence against that person.^[1] The second applies to a person who causes a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner to travel in interstate or foreign commerce by force, coercion, duress, or fraud and commits or attempts a crime of violence against that person in the course of, as a result of, or to facilitate that travel.^[1]

Two elements separate this from a state assault charge. There must be travel in interstate or foreign commerce, entry into or departure from Indian country, or, in the first form, presence within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States; and in the first form the intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate must accompany the travel or presence.^[1] Without one of those links, section 2261 does not apply.^[1]

Federal stalking: 18 USC 2261A

Federal stalking can be committed in two ways.^[2]

• By travel. Traveling in interstate or foreign commerce, or entering or leaving Indian country, with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with that intent, and in the course of or as a result of the travel engaging in conduct that places the person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or that causes, attempts to cause, or would reasonably be expected to cause substantial emotional distress.^[2]
• By communications. With the same intent, using the mail, any interactive computer service or electronic communication service or system of interstate commerce, or any other facility of interstate or foreign commerce to engage in a course of conduct with those results.^[2]

The fear can concern the person, an immediate family member, a spouse or intimate partner, or the person's pet, service animal, emotional support animal, or horse.^[2] Unlike section 2261, the stalking statute does not require that the target be a spouse or partner.^[2]

The communications form does not depend on anyone traveling. It does require a "course of conduct," defined for this chapter as a pattern of conduct composed of 2 or more acts evidencing a continuity of purpose.^[10] Michigan's stalking statute uses a similar idea: a series of 2 or more separate noncontinuous acts.^[11] The state offense is covered in Stalking (MCL 750.411h) and Online harassment and posting messages.

Interstate violation of a protection order: 18 USC 2262

Section 2262 applies to a person who travels in interstate or foreign commerce, or enters or leaves Indian country, with the intent to engage in conduct that violates the portion of a protection order that prohibits or provides protection against violence, threats, or harassment against, contact or communication with, or physical proximity to another person, and who then engages in that conduct.^[3] A second form covers causing the protected person to cross a state line by force, coercion, duress, or fraud and violating the order in the course of that travel.^[3] The statute also covers order terms that protect the person's pet, service animal, emotional support animal, or horse.^[3]

"Protection order" is defined broadly for this purpose. It includes any injunction, restraining order, or other order issued by a civil or criminal court to prevent violent or threatening acts, harassment, sexual violence, contact, communication, or physical proximity, including temporary and final orders, so long as the order was issued in response to a complaint, petition, or motion filed by or on behalf of a person seeking protection.^[10] A Michigan personal protection order (PPO) is an injunctive order of that kind.^[12]

A related federal provision works in the other direction. A protection order issued by a court that had jurisdiction, with reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard, must be given full faith and credit and enforced by the courts and police of every other state, tribe, and territory as if it were their own, and registration in the enforcing state is not required.^[13] How Michigan treats orders from elsewhere is covered in Out-of-state and tribal protection orders.

What are the federal penalties?

Sections 2261 and 2261A share one penalty scale, and section 2262 uses a nearly identical one. Each provides for a fine, imprisonment, or both.^[4][5]

Result or circumstance	Maximum imprisonment
Death of the victim	Life or any term of years[4][5]
Permanent disfigurement or life-threatening bodily injury	20 years[4][5]
Serious bodily injury, or the offender uses a dangerous weapon	10 years[4][5]
The offense would also be a federal sexual abuse offense under chapter 109A of title 18	As provided for that conduct under chapter 109A[4]
Any other case	5 years[4][5]

Two additions apply to stalking. A person who commits the crime of stalking in violation of a temporary or permanent civil or criminal injunction, restraining order, no-contact order, or similar order "shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 1 year."^[4] And, with stated exceptions, if the victim of a federal stalking offense is under 18, the maximum term is 5 years greater than it otherwise would be.^[14]

By comparison, a single violation of a Michigan PPO is punished in state court as criminal contempt, with up to 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.^[15] Michigan aggravated stalking, which includes stalking in violation of a restraining order, is a state felony punishable by up to 5 years.^[16] See Violating a PPO and Aggravated stalking.

Who is covered: the federal definitions

The federal chapter has its own definitions, and they are not the same as Michigan's four relationship categories.^[10][17]

• Spouse or intimate partner includes a spouse or former spouse of the abuser, a person who shares a child in common with the abuser, a person who cohabits or has cohabited as a spouse with the abuser, and a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the abuser.^[10] For the stalking section the same list is written by reference to the target of the stalking, and for every section the term also includes "any other person similarly situated to a spouse who is protected by the domestic or family violence laws of the State or tribal jurisdiction in which the injury occurred or where the victim resides."^[18]
• Dating partner refers to a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the abuser. Whether such a relationship exists is judged by its length, its type, and the frequency of interaction between the people involved.^[10]

Michigan's domestic assault statute, by contrast, reaches any resident or former resident of the accused's household, which includes relatives and roommates who are not partners.^[17][19] The federal definition speaks of a person who cohabits "as a spouse."^[10] The Michigan categories are explained in Who counts: spouses, dating partners, household members.

Federal firearm crimes tied to domestic violence

A separate group of federal provisions concerns guns. They are not built on interstate travel by the accused; the statute speaks of possessing a firearm or ammunition "in or affecting commerce."^[8]

• After a conviction. A person convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence may not possess a firearm or ammunition in or affecting commerce.^[8] The federal definition covers a misdemeanor that has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, committed by a person in one of the listed relationships to the victim.^[20] See The federal firearm ban.
• While under a protection order. A person may not possess firearms or ammunition while subject to a court order that was issued after a hearing of which the person had actual notice and an opportunity to participate, that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child, and that either includes a finding of a credible threat or explicitly prohibits the use of physical force.^[9] The ban applies only to an order issued after such a hearing, and only while the person is subject to the order.^[21] See PPOs and firearms.
• Penalty. A knowing violation of either prohibition is punishable by a fine, up to 15 years in prison, or both.^[22] Sources that still give a 10-year maximum are describing the law before June 25, 2022.^[22]

Michigan has its own, separate 8-year firearm prohibition after a misdemeanor involving domestic violence.^[23] It is explained in Michigan's 8-year firearm ban.

What people get wrong

"Any domestic violence case can be taken federal." Each of the three offenses has a federal link written into it: interstate or foreign travel, Indian country, or an interstate communication facility.^[1][2][3]

"A PPO stops at the state line." Federal law requires other states, tribes, and territories to enforce a qualifying order, and crossing a state line to violate it is a federal offense.^[13][3]

"Federal stalking needs a relationship." Section 2261A is written in terms of "another person." The relationship terms appear in the list of people whose safety the target may fear for.^[2]

"The federal gun penalty is 10 years." The current maximum for a knowing violation is 15 years.^[22]

This page describes what the federal statutes say. It does not address when the same conduct may be charged in both state and federal court, which is a question for a lawyer who practices in federal court. Federal immigration law also makes a noncitizen who, at any time after admission, is convicted of a crime of domestic violence, a crime of stalking, or a crime of child abuse deportable.^[24] See Immigration consequences.