I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2388

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide assured punishment for 

violent crimes against children, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2005

Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide assured 

punishment for violent crimes against children, 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 ‘‘Prevention and Deter5 rence of Crimes Against Children Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ASSURED PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLENT CRIMES 

7 AGAINST CHILDREN. 

8 (a) SPECIAL SENTENCING RULE.—Subsection (d) of 

9 section 3559 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

10 to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘(d) MANDATORY MINIMUM TERMS OF IMPRISON2 MENT FOR VIOLENT CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN.—A 

3 person who is convicted of a Federal crime of violence 

4 against the person of an individual who has not attained 

5 the age of 18 years shall, unless a greater mandatory min6 imum sentence of imprisonment is otherwise provided by 

7 law and regardless of any maximum term of imprisonment 

8 otherwise provided for the offense—

9 ‘‘(1) if the crime of violence results in the death 

10 of a person who has not attained the age of 18 

11 years, be sentenced to death or life in prison; 

12 ‘‘(2) if the crime of violence is a kidnapping, 

13 sexual assault, or maiming, or results in serious bod14 ily injury (as defined in section 1365) be imprisoned 

15 for life or any term of years not less than 30; 

16 ‘‘(3) if the crime of violence results in bodily in17 jury (as defined in section 1365), be imprisoned for 

18 life or for any term of years not less than 20; 

19 ‘‘(4) if a dangerous weapon was used during 

20 and in relation to the crime of violence, be impris21 oned for life or for any term of years not less than 

22 15; and 

23 ‘‘(5) in any other case, be imprisoned for life or 

24 for any term of years not less than 10.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. ENSURING FAIR AND EXPEDITIOUS FEDERAL COL2 LATERAL REVIEW OF CONVICTIONS FOR 

3 KILLING A CHILD. 

4 (a) LIMITS ON CASES.—Section 2254 of title 28, 

5 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(j)(1) A court, justice, or judge shall not have juris8 diction to consider any claim relating to the judgment or 

9 sentence in an application described under paragraph (2), 

10 unless the applicant shows that the claim qualifies for con11 sideration on the grounds described in subsection (e)(2). 

12 Any such application that is presented to a court, justice, 

13 or judge other than a district court shall be transferred 

14 to the appropriate district court for consideration or dis15 missal in conformity with this subsection, except that a 

16 court of appeals panel must authorize any second or suc17 cessive application in conformity with section 2244 before 

18 any consideration by the district court. 

19 ‘‘(2) This subsection applies to an application for a 

20 writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody 

21 pursuant to the judgment of a State court for a crime 

22 that involved the killing of a individual who has not at23 tained the age of 18 years. 

24 ‘‘(3) For an application described in paragraph (2), 

25 the following requirements shall apply in the district court: 
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1 ‘‘(A) Any motion by either party for an evi2 dentiary hearing shall be filed and served not later 

3 than 90 days after the State files its answer or, if 

4 no timely answer is filed, the date on which such an5 swer is due. 

6 ‘‘(B) Any motion for an evidentiary hearing 

7 shall be granted or denied not later than 30 days 

8 after the date on which the party opposing such mo9 tion files a pleading in opposition to such motion or, 

10 if no timely pleading in opposition is filed, the date 

11 on which such pleading in opposition is due. 

12 ‘‘(C) Any evidentiary hearing shall be—

13 ‘‘(i) convened not less than 60 days after 

14 the order granting such hearing; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) completed not more than 150 days 

16 after the order granting such hearing. 

17 ‘‘(D) A district court shall enter a final order, 

18 granting or denying the application for a writ of ha19 beas corpus, not later than 15 months after the date 

20 on which the State files its answer or, if no timely 

21 answer is filed, the date on which such answer is 

22 due, or not later than 60 days after the case is sub23 mitted for decision, whichever is earlier. 

24 ‘‘(E) If the district court fails to comply with 

25 the requirements of this paragraph, the State may 
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1 petition the court of appeals for a writ of mandamus 

2 to enforce the requirements. The court of appeals 

3 shall grant or deny the petition for a writ of man4 damus not later than 30 days after such petition is 

5 filed with the court. 

6 ‘‘(4) For an application described in paragraph (2), 

7 the following requirements shall apply in the court of ap8 peals: 

9 ‘‘(A) A timely filed notice of appeal from an 

10 order issuing a writ of habeas corpus shall operate 

11 as a stay of that order pending final disposition of 

12 the appeal. 

13 ‘‘(B) The court of appeals shall decide the ap14 peal from an order granting or denying a writ of ha15 beas corpus—

16 ‘‘(i) not later than 120 days after the date 

17 on which the brief of the appellee is filed or, if 

18 no timely brief is filed, the date on which such 

19 brief is due; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) if a cross-appeal is filed, not later 

21 than 120 days after the date on which the ap22 pellant files a brief in response to the issues 

23 presented by the cross-appeal or, if no timely 

24 brief is filed, the date on which such brief is 

25 due. 
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1 ‘‘(C)(i) Following a decision by a panel of the 

2 court of appeals under subparagraph (B), a petition 

3 for panel rehearing is not allowed, but rehearing by 

4 the court of appeals en banc may be requested. The 

5 court of appeals shall decide whether to grant a peti6 tion for rehearing en banc not later than 30 days 

7 after the date on which the petition is filed, unless 

8 a response is required, in which case the court shall 

9 decide whether to grant the petition not later than 

10 30 days after the date on which the response is filed 

11 or, if no timely response is filed, the date on which 

12 the response is due. 

13 ‘‘(ii) If rehearing en banc is granted, the court 

14 of appeals shall make a final determination of the 

15 appeal not later than 120 days after the date on 

16 which the order granting rehearing en banc is en17 tered. 

18 ‘‘(D) If the court of appeals fails to comply 

19 with the requirements of this paragraph, the State 

20 may petition the Supreme Court or a justice thereof 

21 for a writ of mandamus to enforce the requirements. 

22 ‘‘(5)(A) The time limitations under paragraphs (3) 

23 and (4) shall apply to an initial application described in 

24 paragraph (2), any second or successive application de25 scribed in paragraph (2), and any redetermination of an 
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1 application described in paragraph (2) or related appeal 

2 following a remand by the court of appeals or the Supreme 

3 Court for further proceedings. 

4 ‘‘(B) In proceedings following remand in the district 

5 court, time limits running from the time the State files 

6 its answer under paragraph (3) shall run from the date 

7 the remand is ordered if further briefing is not required 

8 in the district court. If there is further briefing following 

9 remand in the district court, such time limits shall run 

10 from the date on which a responsive brief is filed or, if 

11 no timely responsive brief is filed, the date on which such 

12 brief is due. 

13 ‘‘(C) In proceedings following remand in the court of 

14 appeals, the time limit specified in paragraph (4)(B) shall 

15 run from the date the remand is ordered if further briefing 

16 is not required in the court of appeals. If there is further 

17 briefing in the court of appeals, the time limit specified 

18 in paragraph (4)(B) shall run from the date on which a 

19 responsive brief is filed or, if no timely responsive brief 

20 is filed, from the date on which such brief is due. 

21 ‘‘(6) The failure of a court to meet or comply with 

22 a time limitation under this subsection shall not be a 

23 ground for granting relief from a judgment of conviction 

24 or sentence, nor shall the time limitations under this sub25 section be construed to entitle a capital applicant to a stay 
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1 of execution, to which the applicant would otherwise not 

2 be entitled, for the purpose of litigating any application 

3 or appeal.’’. 

4 (b) VICTIMS’ RIGHTS IN HABEAS CASES.—Section 

5 3771(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: ‘‘The rights established 

7 for crime victims by this section shall also be extended 

8 in a Federal habeas corpus proceeding arising out of a 

9 State conviction to victims of the State offense at issue.’’

10 (c) APPLICATION TO PENDING CASES.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

12 this section apply to cases pending on the date of 

13 the enactment of this Act as well as to cases com14 menced on and after that date. 

15 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR TIME LIMITS.—In a 

16 case pending on the date of the enactment of this 

17 Act, if the amendment made by subsection (a) pro18 vides that a time limit runs from an event or time 

19 that has occurred before that date, the time limit 

20 shall instead run from that date.

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