II 

Calendar No. 97 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 601 

To amend section 3661 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the 

consideration of acquitted conduct at sentencing. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 4, 2021 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. LEE, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. TILLIS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. OSSOFF) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

JULY 12, 2021 

Reported by Mr. DURBIN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend section 3661 of title 18, United States Code, 

to prohibit the consideration of acquitted conduct at sentencing. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prohibiting Punish5 ment of Acquitted Conduct Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACQUITTED CONDUCT AT SENTENCING. 

2 (a) USE OF INFORMATION FOR SENTENCING.— 

3 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 3661 of title 18, 

4 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, ex5 cept that a court of the United States shall not con6 sider, except for purposes of mitigating a sentence, 

7 acquitted conduct under this section’’ before the pe8 riod at the end. 

9 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

10 paragraph (1) shall apply only to a judgment en11 tered on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3673 of title 18, United 

13 States Code, is amended— 

14 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

15 striking ‘‘As’’ and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(a) As’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) As used in this chapter, the term ‘acquitted con19 duct’ means— 

20 ‘‘(1) an act— 

21 ‘‘(A) for which a person was criminally 

22 charged and adjudicated not guilty after trial in 

23 a Federal, State, or Tribal court; or 

24 ‘‘(B) in the case of a juvenile, that was 

25 charged and for which the juvenile was found 


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1 not responsible after a juvenile adjudication 

2 hearing; or 

3 ‘‘(2) any act underlying a criminal charge or ju4 venile information dismissed— 

5 ‘‘(A) in a Federal court upon a motion for 

6 acquittal under rule 29 of the Federal Rules of 

7 Criminal Procedure; or 

8 ‘‘(B) in a State or Tribal court upon a mo9 tion for acquittal or an analogous motion under 

10 the applicable State or Tribal rule of criminal 

11 procedure.’’. 

12 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

13 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prohibiting Punishment 

14 of Acquitted Conduct Act of 2021’’. 

15 SEC. 2. ACQUITTED CONDUCT AT SENTENCING. 

16 (a) USE OF INFORMATION FOR SENTENCING.— 

17 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 3661 of title 18, 

18 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, except 

19 that a court of the United States shall not consider, 

20 except for purposes of mitigating a sentence, acquitted 

21 conduct under this section’’ before the period at the 

22 end. 

23 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

24 paragraph (1) shall apply only to a judgment entered 

25 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3673 of title 18, United 

2 States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

4 striking ‘‘As’’ and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(a) As’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(b) As used in this chapter, the term ‘acquitted con8 duct’— 

9 ‘‘(1) means— 

10 ‘‘(A) an act— 

11 ‘‘(i) for which a person was criminally 

12 charged and adjudicated not guilty after 

13 trial in a Federal, State, military, or Trib14 al court; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a juvenile, that was 

16 charged and for which the juvenile was 

17 found not responsible after a juvenile adju18 dication hearing; or 

19 ‘‘(B) any act underlying a criminal charge 

20 or juvenile information dismissed— 

21 ‘‘(i) in a Federal court upon a motion 

22 for acquittal under rule 29 of the Federal 

23 Rules of Criminal Procedure; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) in a State, military, or Tribal 

25 court upon a motion for acquittal or an 


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1 analogous motion under the applicable 

2 State, military, or Tribal rule of criminal 

3 procedure; and 

4 ‘‘(2) does not include an act for which a person 

5 was criminally charged and convicted.’’. 

6 (c) VICTIMS’ RIGHTS.—Section 3661 of title 18, 

7 United States Code, as amended by subsection (a) of this 

8 section, is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘No limitation’’ and inserting 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as described in subsection 

12 (b), no limitation’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION OF ACQUITTED CONDUCT.—In 

15 determining an appropriate sentence, a court of the United 

16 States shall not consider acquitted conduct under this sec17 tion for the purposes of determining the appropriate sen18 tencing range pursuant to the United States Sentencing 

19 Guidelines, or to sentence a person outside of that sen20 tencing range, except for the purposes of mitigation. 

21 ‘‘(c) VICTIMS’ RIGHTS.—Nothing in this section shall 

22 limit the rights of a victim under section 3771 (commonly 

23 known as the ‘Crime Victims’ Rights Act’).’’. 


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Calendar No. 97 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 601 

A BILL 

To amend section 3661 of title 18, United States 

conduct at sentencing. Code, to prohibit the consideration of acquitted 

JULY 12, 2021 

Reported with an amendment 


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