I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8027 

To authorize a civil right of action for individuals affected by video voyeurism, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2024 

Ms. MACE (for herself and Mr. GREEN of Texas) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize a civil right of action for individuals affected 

by video voyeurism, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Sue Victimizers and 

5 Offenders who Yield Explicit Unconsented Recordings 

6 Surreptitiously Act’’ or the ‘‘Sue VOYEURS Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. INTIMATE VISUAL DEPICTIONS. 

8 Title XIII of division W of the Consolidated Appro9 priations Act, 2022, is amended by inserting after section 

10 1309 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1309A. CIVIL ACTION RELATING TO CAPTURE OF IN2 TIMATE IMAGES. 

3 ‘‘(a) CIVIL ACTION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

6 paragraph (3), an individual whose intimate vis7 ual depiction is captured, in a circumstance de8 scribed in paragraph (4), without the consent of 

9 the individual, where such capture is done by a 

10 person who knows that, or recklessly disregards 

11 whether, the individual has not consented to the 

12 capture, and does so under circumstances in 

13 which the individual has a reasonable expecta14 tion of privacy, may bring a civil action against 

15 that person in an appropriate district court of 

16 the United States for relief as set forth in para17 graph (2). 

18 ‘‘(B) RIGHTS ON BEHALF OF CERTAIN IN19 DIVIDUALS.—In the case of an individual who is 

20 under 18 years of age, incompetent, incapaci21 tated, or deceased, the legal guardian of the in22 dividual or representative of the individual’s es23 tate, another family member, or any other per24 son appointed as suitable by the court, may as25 sume the individual’s rights under this section, 


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1 but in no event shall the defendant be named 

2 as such representative or guardian. 

3 ‘‘(2) RELIEF.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In a civil action filed 

5 under this section— 

6 ‘‘(i) an individual may recover the ac7 tual damages sustained by the individual 

8 or liquidated damages in the amount of 

9 $150,000 for each intimate visual depiction 

10 captured of the individual, and the cost of 

11 the action, including reasonable attorney’s 

12 fees and other litigation costs reasonably 

13 incurred; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) the court may, in addition to any 

15 other relief available at law, order equi16 table relief, including a temporary restrain17 ing order, a preliminary injunction, or a 

18 permanent injunction ordering the defend19 ant to cease display or disclosure of the 

20 visual depiction. 

21 ‘‘(B) PRESERVATION OF ANONYMITY.—In 

22 ordering relief under subparagraph (A), the 

23 court may grant injunctive relief maintaining 

24 the confidentiality of a plaintiff using a pseu25 donym. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—An individual may not bring 

2 an action for relief under this section relating to the 

3 actions of a law enforcement officer or agency, con4 ducting surveillance pursuant to a lawfully issued 

5 warrant. 

6 ‘‘(4) CIRCUMSTANCE DESCRIBED.—For the 

7 purposes of paragraph (1), the circumstances de8 scribed in this paragraph are that— 

9 ‘‘(A) the individual traveled in interstate or 

10 foreign commerce, or traveled using a means, 

11 channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate 

12 or foreign commerce, in furtherance of or in 

13 connection with the conduct described in para14 graph (1); 

15 ‘‘(B) the individual used a means, channel, 

16 facility, or instrumentality of interstate or for17 eign commerce in furtherance of or in connec18 tion with the conduct described in paragraph 

19 (1); 

20 ‘‘(C) any payment of any kind was made, 

21 directly or indirectly, in furtherance of or in 

22 connection with the conduct described in para23 graph (1) using any means, channel, facility, or 

24 instrumentality of interstate or foreign comVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Apr 25, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8027.IH H8027

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1 merce or in or affecting interstate or foreign 

2 commerce; 

3 ‘‘(D) the individual transmitted in inter4 state or foreign commerce any communication 

5 relating to or in furtherance of the conduct de6 scribed in paragraph (1) using any means, 

7 channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate 

8 or foreign commerce or in or affecting inter9 state or foreign commerce by any means or in 

10 manner, including by computer, mail, wire, or 

11 electromagnetic transmission; 

12 ‘‘(E) any equipment, item, or other object 

13 that has traveled in interstate or foreign com14 merce was used to perform the conduct de15 scribed in paragraph (1); 

16 ‘‘(F) the conduct described in paragraph 

17 (1) occurred within the special maritime and 

18 territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or 

19 any territory or possession of the United States; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(G) the conduct described in paragraph 

22 (1) otherwise occurred in or affected interstate 

23 or foreign commerce. 

24 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) BROADCAST.—The term ‘broadcast’ means 

2 to electronically transmit a visual image with the in3 tent that it be viewed by a person or persons. 

4 ‘‘(2) CAPTURE.—The term ‘capture’, with re5 spect to an image, means to videotape, photograph, 

6 film, record by any means, or broadcast. 

7 ‘‘(3) CONSENT.—The term ‘consent’ means an 

8 affirmative, conscious, competent, and voluntary au9 thorization made by the individual free from force, 

10 fraud, misrepresentation, or coercion. 

11 ‘‘(4) INTIMATE VISUAL DEPICTION.—The term 

12 ‘intimate visual depiction’— 

13 ‘‘(A) means a visual depiction, as that 

14 term is defined in section 2256(5) of title 18, 

15 United States Code, that depicts— 

16 ‘‘(i) the naked or undergarment clad 

17 private area of an individual; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) the display or transfer of bodily 

19 sexual fluids— 

20 ‘‘(I) on to any part of the body 

21 of an individual; 

22 ‘‘(II) from the body of an indi23 vidual; or 

24 ‘‘(iii) an individual engaging in sexu25 ally explicit conduct; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) includes any visual depictions de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) produced while the 

3 individual was in a public place only if the indi4 vidual did not— 

5 ‘‘(i) voluntarily display the content de6 picted; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) consent to the sexual conduct de8 picted; 

9 ‘‘(5) PRIVATE AREA.—The term ‘private area’ 

10 means, with respect to an individual, the genitals, 

11 pubic area, anus, buttocks, or female nipple of that 

12 individual. 

13 ‘‘(6) SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT.—The term 

14 ‘sexually explicit conduct’ has the meaning given to 

15 the term in subparagraph (A) of section 2256(2) of 

16 title 18, United States Code. 

17 ‘‘(7) UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THAT

18 INDIVIDUAL HAS A REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF

19 PRIVACY.—The term ‘under circumstances in which 

20 that individual has a reasonable expectation of pri21 vacy’ means— 

22 ‘‘(A) circumstances in which a reasonable 

23 person would believe that he or she could dis24 robe in privacy, without being concerned that 


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1 an image of a private area of the individual was 

2 being captured; or 

3 ‘‘(B) circumstances in which a reasonable 

4 person would believe that a private area of the 

5 individual would not be visible to the public, re6 gardless of whether that person is in a public 

7 or private place.’’. 

Æ 


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