Section 111 of Title 18 of the United States Code prohibits assaulting any person "designated in section 1114 of this title." Section § 1114 designates "any officer or employee of the United States or of any agency of the United States Government . . . or any person assisting such an officer or employee in the performance of such duties" as qualifying. Here, the defendant punched an employee of a company that operates a private prison and was convicted of assault under 18 U.S.C. § 111. The courts below identified no officer or employee being assisted. Instead, the courts found that that the private employee was assisting the Marshals Service, a federal agency. But an "agency" is not "an officer or employee." Was the private prison's employee "assisting such an officer or employee" such that the employee was a covered person under § 1114?

Whether a private prison employee assisting federal marshals is covered under 18 U.S.C. § 1114