The Travel Act of 1961 was designed to target members of organized crime. It was part of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s crime package of legislation. The law was written in very general terms and could be applied to myriad situations involving individuals or criminal groups. A person could be punished with a fine of $10,000 or a prison sentence of five years for traveling “in interstate commerce” or using any facility of interstate commerce (including the mail) with an intent to commit a “crime of violence” or to “otherwise promote, manage, establish”, or carry out any unlawful activity”. “Any unlawful activity” included gambling.
In the broad sweep of the language in the act, it could apply to a wide variety of methods of “transportation”, possibly even the Internet and credit card machines. Courts have even held that intrastate mails are covered by the act, as they are part of an interstate mail system.
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