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What is the Mann Act? Here's what to know about the law used to convict Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Sean "Diddy" Combs was convicted Wednesday of prostitution-related offenses under the federal Mann Act, an anti-sex trafficking law with a controversial, century-old history.
Its broad wording and a subsequent Supreme Court interpretation allowed prosecutors to bring cases against interracial couples, and eventually many others in consensual relationships, according to Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute. In February, Combs' legal team 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, used to target Black men and supposedly protect white women from them." 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.
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