What is the Mann Act? Here’s what to know about the law used to convict Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

In this courtroom sketch, Sean "Diddy" Combs, rights, leads his family in a prayer before the verdict was read, convicting him of prostitution-related offenses but acquitting him of sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Manhattan federal court in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

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 against 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 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 become a world heavyweight champion 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.

(U.S. 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.”

Nevertheless, Combs ' legal team last February made a motion 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 the case. Most of Combs’ accusers are people of color.

Jonathan Mattise, The Associated Press