I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3120

To assure the rights of victims of crime.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 22, 1993

Mr. MCHALE (for himself, Mr. ANDREWS of New Jersey, Mr. BACHUS of Alabama, Mr. BAESLER, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. BARLOW, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. DANNER, Mr. DEUTSCH,

Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FROST, Mr. GEREN

of Texas, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HOKE, Mr. HOLDEN,

Ms. NORTON, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Mr. JOHNSON of

Georgia, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. KLEIN, Mr. KLINK, Mr. KNOLLENBERG,

Mr. KREIDLER, Mr. LANCASTER, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MCCLOSKEY, Mr.

MCINNIS, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MINGE, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. MURTHA, Mr.

ORTON, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. QUINN, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. SANTORUM, Ms.

SCHENK, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. SWETT, Mr.

TALENT, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. TEJEDA, Mr. TUCKER, and Mr.

UNDERWOOD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To assure the rights of victims of crime.

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 ‘‘Crime Victims’ Bill

5 of Rights Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. VICTIMS’ STATEMENT IN FEDERAL CASES.

2 Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

3 is amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subdivision

5 (a)(1)(B);

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of subdivi7 sion (a)(1)(C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’;

8 (3) by inserting after subdivision (a)(1)(C) the

9 following:

10 ‘‘(D) address personally any victim of the

11 offense for which sentence is to be imposed (or

12 a member of that victim’s immediate family or,

13 in the discretion of the court, any other appro14 priate person representing the victim) who is

15 present at the sentencing hearing, and afford

16 the individual so addressed the opportunity to

17 make a statement and present information in

18 relation to the sentence.’’;

19 (4) in the penultimate sentence of subdivision

20 (a)(1), by striking ‘‘equivalent opportunity’’ and in21 serting ‘‘opportunity equivalent to that of the de22 fendant’s counsel’’; and

23 (5) by adding at the end of subdivision (a)(1)

24 the following: ‘‘Upon request by a victim, the court

25 may hear in camera such a statement by that vic26 tim.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. RIGHT OF VICTIMS OF STATE OFFENSES TO BE IN2 FORMED ABOUT VICTIM COMPENSATION AND

3 ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

4 Section 1403(b) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984

5 (42 U.S.C. 10602(b) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

7 (7);

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the follow9 ing:

10 ‘‘(8) such State provides an effective system of

11 notice to crime victims of the existence of compensa12 tion and other programs to assist victims of crime

13 in which those victims might be eligible to partici14 pate; and’’; and

15 (3) by redesignating existing paragraph (8) as

16 paragraph (9).

17 SEC. 4. RIGHT OF VICTIMS IN COURT PROCEEDINGS.

18 (a) SEPARATION OF VICTIM FROM ACCUSED.—Sec19 tion 501(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and

20 Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended—

21 (1) by striking the period at the end of para22 graph (21) and adding ‘‘; and’’; and

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

24 ‘‘(22) programs that allow for the physical and

25 visual separation of a victim of crime from an al-
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1 leged perpetrator of such crime while waiting in a

2 judicial facility for a courtroom appearance.’’.

3 (b) FORMULA GRANT REDUCTION FOR NONCOMPLI4 ANCE.—Section 506 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con5 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended by adding

6 at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(g) In order not to reduce the funds available under

8 this subpart by 25 percent (for redistribution to other par9 ticipating States), a State shall, on the first day of each

10 fiscal year succeeding the first fiscal year beginning after

11 September 30, 1994—

12 ‘‘(1) notify a victim of crime of the availability

13 of visual and physical separation from an alleged

14 perpetrator of such crime while waiting in a judicial

15 facility for a courtroom appearance;

16 ‘‘(2) provide such victim the opportunity for

17 visual and physical separation from an alleged per18 petrator of such crime while waiting in a judicial fa19 cility for a courtroom appearance;

20 ‘‘(3) provide a victim of crime with the earliest

21 possible notice of the scheduling of each court pro22 ceeding or parole hearing that the witness is either

23 required or entitled to attend; and

24 ‘‘(4) address personally any victim of the of25 fense for which sentence is to be imposed (or a
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1 member of that victim’s immediate family or, in the

2 discretion of the court, any other appropriate person

3 representing the victim) who is present at the sen4 tencing hearing, and afford the individual so ad5 dressed the opportunity to make a statement and

6 present information in relation to the sentence.’’.

7 SEC. 5. FEDERAL VICTIMS RIGHTS TO BE INFORMED

8 ABOUT COMPENSATION PROGRAMS AND TO

9 SEPARATE WAITING FACILITIES.

10 The Attorney General shall assure that Federal pros11 ecutors and law enforcement officials—

12 (1) provide an effective system of notice to

13 crime victims of the existence of compensation and

14 other programs to assist victims of crime in which

15 those victims might be eligible to participate;

16 (2) notify victims of Federal crime of the avail17 ability of visual and physical separation from alleged

18 perpetrators of such crime while waiting in a judicial

19 facility for a courtroom appearance;

20 (3) provide victims of Federal crime the oppor21 tunity for visual and physical separation from al22 leged perpetrators of such crime while waiting in a

23 judicial facility for a courtroom appearance; and

24 (4) provide a victim of crime with the earliest

25 possible notice of the scheduling of each court pro-
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1 ceeding or parole hearing that the witness is either

2 required or entitled to attend.

Æ