33 U.S.C. § 384 : US Code - Section 384: Condemnation of piratical vessels

Search 33 U.S.C. § 384 : US Code - Section 384: Condemnation of piratical vessels

Whenever any vessel, which shall have been built, purchased,
fitted out in whole or in part, or held for the purpose of being
employed in the commission of any piratical aggression, search,
restraint, depredation, or seizure, or in the commission of any
other act of piracy as defined by the law of nations, or from which
any piratical aggression, search, restraint, depredation, or
seizure shall have been first attempted or made, is captured and
brought into or captured in any port of the United States, the same
shall be adjudged and condemned to their use, and that of the
captors after due process and trial in any court having admiralty
jurisdiction, and which shall be holden for the district into which
such captured vessel shall be brought; and the same court shall
thereupon order a sale and distribution thereof accordingly, and at
its discretion.