I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3981

To provide mandatory life imprisonment for persons convicted of a third

violent felony.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 8, 1994

Mr. SCHUMER (by request) (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Mr. MAZZOLI, Mr.

GLICKMAN, Mr. SANGMEISTER, Mr. MANN, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr.

RAMSTAD, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. MANTON, and Mrs. BYRNE)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the

Judiciary

A BILL

To provide mandatory life imprisonment for persons

convicted of a third violent felony.

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

3 That section 3559 of title 18, United States Code, is

4 amended—

5 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘An’’ and in6 serting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (c), an’’ in

7 lieu thereof; and

8 (2) by adding the following new subsection at

9 the end:
2

•HR 3981 IH

1 ‘‘(c) IMPRISONMENT OF CERTAIN VIOLENT FEL2 ONS.—

3 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY LIFE IMPRISONMENT.—Not4 withstanding any other provision of law, a person

5 who is convicted in a court of the United States of

6 a serious violent felony shall be sentenced to life im7 prisonment if—

8 ‘‘(A) the person has been convicted on 2 or

9 more prior occasions in a court of the United

10 States or of a State of a serious violent felony;

11 and

12 ‘‘(B) each serious violent felony used as a

13 basis for sentencing under this subsection,

14 other than the first, was committed after the

15 defendant’s conviction of the preceding serious

16 violent felony.

17 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub18 section—

19 ‘‘(A) the term ‘assault with intent to com20 mit rape’ means an offense that has as its ele21 ments engaging in physical conduct by which a

22 person intentionally places another person in

23 fear of aggravated sexual abuse or sexual abuse

24 (as described in sections 2241 and 2242);
3

•HR 3981 IH

1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘arson’ means an offense

2 that has as its elements maliciously damaging

3 or destroying any building, inhabited structure,

4 vehicle, vessel, or real property by means of fire

5 or an explosive;

6 ‘‘(C) the term ‘extortion’ means an offense

7 that has as its elements the extraction of any8 thing of value from another person by threaten9 ing or placing that person in fear of injury to

10 any person or kidnapping of any person;

11 ‘‘(D) the term ‘firearms use’ means an of12 fense that has as its elements those described

13 in section 924(c) or 929(a), if the firearm was

14 brandished, discharged, or otherwise used as a

15 weapon and the crime of violence or drug traf16 ficking crime during and relation to which the

17 firearm was used was subject to prosecution in

18 a court of the United States or a court of a

19 State, or both;

20 ‘‘(E) the term ‘kidnapping’ means an of21 fense that has as its elements the abduction, re22 straining, confining, or carrying away of an23 other person by force or threat of force;

24 ‘‘(F) the term ‘serious violent felony’

25 means—
4

•HR 3981 IH

1 ‘‘(i) a Federal or State offense, by

2 whatever designation and wherever com3 mitted, consisting of murder (as described

4 in section 1111); manslaughter other than

5 involuntary manslaughter (as described in

6 section 1112); assault with intent to com7 mit murder (as described in section

8 113(a)); assault with intent to commit

9 rape; aggravated sexual abuse and sexual

10 abuse (as described in sections 2241 and

11 2242); abusive sexual contact (as described

12 in sections 2244(a)(1) and (a)(2)); kidnap13 ping; aircraft piracy (as described in sec14 tion 1472(i)(2) or (n)(2) of title 49); rob15 bery (as described in section 2111); extor16 tion; arson; firearms use; or attempt, con17 spiracy, or solicitation to commit any of

18 the above offenses; or

19 ‘‘(ii) any other offense punishable by

20 a maximum term of imprisonment of 10

21 years or more that has as an element the

22 use, attempted use, or threatened use of

23 physical force against the person of an24 other or that, by its nature, involves a sub25 stantial risk that physical force against the
5

•HR 3981 IH

1 person of another may be used in the

2 course of committing the offense; and

3 ‘‘(G) the term ‘State’ means a State of the

4 United States, the District of Columbia, or any

5 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the

6 United States.

7 ‘‘(3) NONQUALIFYING FELONIES.—

8 ‘‘(A) ROBBERY IN CERTAIN CASES.—Rob9 bery, an attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to

10 commit robbery; or an offense described in

11 paragraph (2)(F)(ii) shall not serve as a basis

12 for sentencing under this subsection if the de13 fendant establishes by clear and convincing evi14 dence that—

15 ‘‘(i) no firearm or other dangerous

16 weapon was involved in the offense; and

17 ‘‘(ii) the offense did not result in

18 death or serious bodily injury (as defined

19 in section 1365) to any person.

20 ‘‘(B) ARSON IN CERTAIN CASES.—Arson

21 shall not serve as a basis for sentencing under

22 this subsection if the defendant establishes by

23 clear and convincing evidence that—

24 ‘‘(i) the offense posed no threat to

25 human life; and
6

•HR 3981 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) the defendant reasonably believed

2 the offense posed no threat to human life.

3 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION FILED BY UNITED STATES

4 ATTORNEY.—The provisions of section 411(a) of the

5 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 851(a)) shall

6 apply to the imposition of sentence under this sub7 section.

8 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This sub9 section shall not be construed to preclude imposition

10 of the death penalty.’’.

Æ