110TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 378

AN ACT

To amend title 18, United States Code, to protect judges,

prosecutors, witnesses, victims, and their family members, 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 ‘‘Court Security Im5 provement Act of 2007’’.
 †

2

S 378 ES

1 TITLE I—JUDICIAL SECURITY

2 IMPROVEMENTS AND FUNDING

3 SEC. 101. JUDICIAL BRANCH SECURITY REQUIREMENTS.

4 (a) ENSURING CONSULTATION WITH THE JUDICI5 ARY.—Section 566 of title 28, United States Code, is

6 amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(i) The Director of the United States Marshals

8 Service shall consult with the Judicial Conference of the

9 United States on a continuing basis regarding the security

10 requirements for the judicial branch of the United States

11 Government, to ensure that the views of the Judicial Con12 ference regarding the security requirements for the judi13 cial branch of the Federal Government are taken into ac14 count when determining staffing levels, setting priorities

15 for programs regarding judicial security, and allocating ju16 dicial security resources. In this paragraph, the term ‘judi17 cial security’ includes the security of buildings housing the

18 judiciary, the personal security of judicial officers, the as19 sessment of threats made to judicial officers, and the pro20 tection of all other judicial personnel. The United States

21 Marshals Service retains final authority regarding security

22 requirements for the judicial branch of the Federal Gov23 ernment.’’.
†

3

S 378 ES

1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 331 of title

2 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

3 the following:

4 ‘‘The Judicial Conference shall consult with the Di5 rector of United States Marshals Service on a continuing

6 basis regarding the security requirements for the judicial

7 branch of the United States Government, to ensure that

8 the views of the Judicial Conference regarding the security

9 requirements for the judicial branch of the Federal Gov10 ernment are taken into account when determining staffing

11 levels, setting priorities for programs regarding judicial se12 curity, and allocating judicial security resources. In this

13 paragraph, the term ‘judicial security’ includes the secu14 rity of buildings housing the judiciary, the personal secu15 rity of judicial officers, the assessment of threats made

16 to judicial officers, and the protection of all other judicial

17 personnel. The United States Marshals Service retains

18 final authority regarding security requirements for the ju19 dicial branch of the Federal Government.’’.

20 SEC. 102. PROTECTION OF FAMILY MEMBERS.

21 Section 105(b)(3) of the Ethics in Government Act

22 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended—

23 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or a

24 family member of that individual’’ after ‘‘that indi25 vidual’’; and
†

4

S 378 ES

1 (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting ‘‘or a

2 family member of that individual’’ after ‘‘the re3 port’’.

4 SEC. 103. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS.

5 (a) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—Section 105(b)(3)

6 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App)

7 is amended by striking ‘‘2005’’ each place that term ap8 pears and inserting ‘‘2009’’.

9 (b) REPORT CONTENTS.—Section 105(b)(3)(C) of

10 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App)

11 is amended—

12 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;

13 (2) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the

14 end and inserting a semicolon; and

15 (3) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(iv) the nature or type of information re17 dacted;

18 ‘‘(v) what steps or procedures are in place to

19 ensure that sufficient information is available to liti20 gants to determine if there is a conflict of interest;

21 ‘‘(vi) principles used to guide implementation of

22 redaction authority; and

23 ‘‘(vii) any public complaints received in regards

24 to redaction.’’.
†

5

S 378 ES

1 SEC. 104. PROTECTION OF UNITED STATES TAX COURT.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 566(a) of title 28, United

3 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘and the Court of

4 International Trade’’ and inserting ‘‘, the Court of Inter5 national Trade, and the United States Tax Court, as pro6 vided by law’’.

7 (b) INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.—Section 7456(c) of

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to incidental

9 powers of the Tax Court) is amended in the matter fol10 lowing paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end,

11 and inserting ‘‘and may otherwise provide, when requested

12 by the chief judge of the Tax Court, for the security of

13 the Tax Court, including the personal protection of Tax

14 Court judges, court officers, witnesses, and other threat15 ened persons in the interests of justice, where criminal in16 timidation impedes on the functioning of the judicial proc17 ess or any other official proceeding.’’.

18 (c) REIMBURSEMENT.—The United States Tax Court

19 shall reimburse the United States Marshals Service for

20 protection provided under the amendments made by this

21 section.

22 SEC. 105. ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS FOR UNITED STATES MAR23 SHALS SERVICE TO PROTECT THE JUDICI24 ARY.

25 In addition to any other amounts authorized to be

26 appropriated for the United States Marshals Service,
†

6

S 378 ES

1 there are authorized to be appropriated for the United

2 States Marshals Service to protect the judiciary,

3 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011

4 for—

5 (1) hiring entry-level deputy marshals for pro6 viding judicial security;

7 (2) hiring senior-level deputy marshals for in8 vestigating threats to the judiciary and providing

9 protective details to members of the judiciary and

10 assistant United States attorneys; and

11 (3) for the Office of Protective Intelligence, for

12 hiring senior-level deputy marshals, hiring program

13 analysts, and providing secure computer systems.

14 TITLE II—CRIMINAL LAW EN15 HANCEMENTS TO PROTECT

16 JUDGES, FAMILY MEMBERS,

17 AND WITNESSES

18 SEC. 201. PROTECTIONS AGAINST MALICIOUS RECORDING

19 OF FICTITIOUS LIENS AGAINST FEDERAL

20 JUDGES AND FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

21 OFFICERS.

22 (a) OFFENSE.—Chapter 73 of title 18, United States

23 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
†

7

S 378 ES

1 ‘‘SEC. 1521. RETALIATING AGAINST A FEDERAL JUDGE OR

2 FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER BY

3 FALSE CLAIM OR SLANDER OF TITLE.

4 ‘‘Whoever files, attempts to file, or conspires to file,

5 in any public record or in any private record which is gen6 erally available to the public, any false lien or encum7 brance against the real or personal property of an indi8 vidual described in section 1114, on account of the per9 formance of official duties by that individual, knowing or

10 having reason to know that such lien or encumbrance is

11 false or contains any materially false, fictitious, or fraudu12 lent statement or representation, shall be fined under this

13 title or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.’’.

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis

15 for chapter 73 of title 18, United States Code, is amended

16 by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘1521. Retaliating against a Federal judge or Federal law enforcement officer

by false claim or slander of title.’’.

17 SEC. 202. PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALS PERFORMING CER18 TAIN OFFICIAL DUTIES.

19 (a) OFFENSE.—Chapter 7 of title 18, United States

20 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘§ 119. Protection of individuals performing certain

22 official duties

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever knowingly makes re24 stricted personal information about a covered official, or
†

8

S 378 ES

1 a member of the immediate family of that covered official,

2 publicly available—

3 ‘‘(1) with the intent to threaten, intimidate, or

4 incite the commission of a crime of violence against

5 that covered official, or a member of the immediate

6 family of that covered official; or

7 ‘‘(2) with the intent and knowledge that the re8 stricted personal information will be used to threat9 en, intimidate, or facilitate the commission of a

10 crime of violence against that covered official, or a

11 member of the immediate family of that covered offi12 cial,

13 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than

14 5 years, or both.

15 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘restricted personal information’

17 means, with respect to an individual, the Social Se18 curity number, the home address, home phone num19 ber, mobile phone number, personal email, or home

20 fax number of, and identifiable to, that individual;

21 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered official’ means—

22 ‘‘(A) an individual designated in section

23 1114; or

24 ‘‘(B) a grand or petit juror, witness, or

25 other officer in or of, any court of the United
†

9

S 378 ES

1 States, or an officer who may be serving at any

2 examination or other proceeding before any

3 United States magistrate judge or other com4 mitting magistrate;

5 ‘‘(3) the term ‘crime of violence’ has the mean6 ing given the term in section 16; and

7 ‘‘(4) the term ‘immediate family’ has the mean8 ing given the term in section 115(c)(2).’’.

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

10 at the beginning of chapter 7 of title 18, United States

11 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new

12 item:

‘‘119. Protection of individuals performing certain official duties.’’.

13 SEC. 203. PROHIBITION OF POSSESSION OF DANGEROUS

14 WEAPONS IN FEDERAL COURT FACILITIES.

15 Section 930(e)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is

16 amended by inserting ‘‘or other dangerous weapon’’ after

17 ‘‘firearm’’.

18 SEC. 204. CLARIFICATION OF VENUE FOR RETALIATION

19 AGAINST A WITNESS.

20 Section 1513 of title 18, United States Code, is

21 amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(g) A prosecution under this section may be brought

23 in the district in which the official proceeding (whether

24 pending, about to be instituted, or completed) was in-
†

10

S 378 ES

1 tended to be affected, or in which the conduct constituting

2 the alleged offense occurred.’’.

3 SEC. 205. MODIFICATION OF TAMPERING WITH A WITNESS,

4 VICTIM, OR AN INFORMANT OFFENSE.

5 (a) CHANGES IN PENALTIES.—Section 1512 of title

6 18, United States Code, is amended—

7 (1) so that subparagraph (A) of subsection

8 (a)(3) reads as follows:

9 ‘‘(A) in the case of a killing, the punishment

10 provided in sections 1111 and 1112;’’;

11 (2) in subsection (a)(3)—

12 (A) in the matter following clause (ii) of

13 subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘20 years’’ and

14 inserting ‘‘30 years’’; and

15 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘10

16 years’’ and inserting ‘‘20 years’’;

17 (3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘ten years’’

18 and inserting ‘‘20 years’’; and

19 (4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘one year’’

20 and inserting ‘‘3 years’’.

21 SEC. 206. MODIFICATION OF RETALIATION OFFENSE.

22 Section 1513 of title 18, United States Code, is

23 amended—

24 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B)—
†

11

S 378 ES

1 (A) by inserting a comma after ‘‘proba2 tion’’; and

3 (B) by striking the comma which imme4 diately follows another comma;

5 (2) in subsection (a)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘20

6 years’’ and inserting ‘‘30 years’’;

7 (3) in subsection (b)—

8 (A) in paragraph (2)—

9 (i) by inserting a comma after ‘‘proba10 tion’’; and

11 (ii) by striking the comma which im12 mediately follows another comma; and

13 (B) in the matter following paragraph (2),

14 by striking ‘‘ten years’’ and inserting ‘‘20

15 years’’; and

16 (4) by redesignating the second subsection (e)

17 as subsection (f).

18 SEC. 207. GENERAL MODIFICATIONS OF FEDERAL MURDER

19 CRIME AND RELATED CRIMES.

20 Section 1112(b) of title 18, United States Code, is

21 amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘ten years’’ and inserting ‘‘20

23 years’’; and

24 (2) by striking ‘‘six years’’ and inserting ‘‘10

25 years’’.
†

12

S 378 ES

1 TITLE III—PROTECTING STATE

2 AND LOCAL JUDGES AND RE3 LATED GRANT PROGRAMS

4 SEC. 301. GRANTS TO STATES TO PROTECT WITNESSES AND

5 VICTIMS OF CRIMES.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 31702 of the Violent

7 Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42

8 U.S.C. 13862) is amended—

9 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

10 end;

11 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and

12 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

14 ‘‘(5) by a State, unit of local government, or In15 dian tribe to create and expand witness and victim

16 protection programs to prevent threats, intimidation,

17 and retaliation against victims of, and witnesses to,

18 violent crimes.’’.

19 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

20 31707 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement

21 Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13867) is amended to read as

22 follows:
†

13

S 378 ES

1 ‘‘SEC. 31707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated

3 $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007 through

4 2011 to carry out this subtitle.’’.

5 SEC. 302. ELIGIBILITY OF STATE COURTS FOR CERTAIN

6 FEDERAL GRANTS.

7 (a) CORRECTIONAL OPTIONS GRANTS.—Section 515

8 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

9 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3762a) is amended—

10 (1) in subsection (a)—

11 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at

12 the end;

13 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe14 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

15 (C) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(4) grants to State courts to improve security

17 for State and local court systems.’’; and

18 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting after the pe19 riod the following:

20 ‘‘Priority shall be given to State court applicants under

21 subsection (a)(4) that have the greatest demonstrated

22 need to provide security in order to administer justice.’’.

23 (b) ALLOCATIONS.—Section 516(a) of the Omnibus

24 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.

25 3762b) is amended by—

26 (1) striking ‘‘80’’ and inserting ‘‘70’’;
†

14

S 378 ES

1 (2) striking ‘‘and 10’’ and inserting ‘‘10’’; and

2 (3) inserting before the period the following: ‘‘,

3 and 10 percent for section 515(a)(4)’’.

4 (c) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO CONSIDER

5 COURTS.—The Attorney General may require, as appro6 priate, that whenever a State or unit of local government

7 or Indian tribe applies for a grant from the Department

8 of Justice, the State, unit, or tribe demonstrate that, in

9 developing the application and distributing funds, the

10 State, unit, or tribe—

11 (1) considered the needs of the judicial branch

12 of the State, unit, or tribe, as the case may be;

13 (2) consulted with the chief judicial officer of

14 the highest court of the State, unit, or tribe, as the

15 case may be; and

16 (3) consulted with the chief law enforcement of17 ficer of the law enforcement agency responsible for

18 the security needs of the judicial branch of the

19 State, unit, or tribe, as the case may be.

20 (d) ARMOR VESTS.—Section 2501 of title I of the

21 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42

22 U.S.C. 3796ll) is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘and State

24 and local court officers’’ after ‘‘tribal law enforce25 ment officers’’; and
†

15

S 378 ES

1 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘State or

2 local court,’’ after ‘‘government,’’.

3 TITLE IV—LAW ENFORCEMENT

4 OFFICERS

5 SEC. 401. REPORT ON SECURITY OF FEDERAL PROSECU6 TORS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall

9 submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate

10 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep11 resentatives a report on the security of assistant United

12 States attorneys and other Federal attorneys arising from

13 the prosecution of terrorists, violent criminal gangs, drug

14 traffickers, gun traffickers, white supremacists, those who

15 commit fraud and other white-collar offenses, and other

16 criminal cases.

17 (b) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under sub18 section (a) shall describe each of the following:

19 (1) The number and nature of threats and as20 saults against attorneys handling prosecutions de21 scribed in subsection (a) and the reporting require22 ments and methods.

23 (2) The security measures that are in place to

24 protect the attorneys who are handling prosecutions

25 described in subsection (a), including threat assess-
†

16

S 378 ES

1 ments, response procedures, availability of security

2 systems and other devices, firearms licensing (depu3 tations), and other measures designed to protect the

4 attorneys and their families.

5 (3) The firearms deputation policies of the De6 partment of Justice, including the number of attor7 neys deputized and the time between receipt of

8 threat and completion of the deputation and training

9 process.

10 (4) For each requirement, measure, or policy

11 described in paragraphs (1) through (3), when the

12 requirement, measure, or policy was developed and

13 who was responsible for developing and imple14 menting the requirement, measure, or policy.

15 (5) The programs that are made available to

16 the attorneys for personal security training, includ17 ing training relating to limitations on public infor18 mation disclosure, basic home security, firearms

19 handling and safety, family safety, mail handling,

20 counter-surveillance, and self-defense tactics.

21 (6) The measures that are taken to provide at22 torneys handling prosecutions described in sub23 section (a) with secure parking facilities, and how

24 priorities for such facilities are established—
†

17

S 378 ES

1 (A) among Federal employees within the

2 facility;

3 (B) among Department of Justice employ4 ees within the facility; and

5 (C) among attorneys within the facility.

6 (7) The frequency attorneys handling prosecu7 tions described in subsection (a) are called upon to

8 work beyond standard work hours and the security

9 measures provided to protect attorneys at such times

10 during travel between office and available parking

11 facilities.

12 (8) With respect to attorneys who are licensed

13 under State laws to carry firearms, the policy of the

14 Department of Justice as to—

15 (A) carrying the firearm between available

16 parking and office buildings;

17 (B) securing the weapon at the office

18 buildings; and

19 (C) equipment and training provided to fa20 cilitate safe storage at Department of Justice

21 facilities.

22 (9) The offices in the Department of Justice

23 that are responsible for ensuring the security of at24 torneys handling prosecutions described in sub25 section (a), the organization and staffing of the of-
†

18

S 378 ES

1 fices, and the manner in which the offices coordinate

2 with offices in specific districts.

3 (10) The role, if any, that the United States

4 Marshals Service or any other Department of Jus5 tice component plays in protecting, or providing se6 curity services or training for, attorneys handling

7 prosecutions described in subsection (a).

8 TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS

9 PROVISIONS

10 SEC. 501. EXPANDED PROCUREMENT AUTHORITY FOR THE

11 UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 995 of title 28, United

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing:

15 ‘‘(f) The Commission may—

16 ‘‘(1) use available funds to enter into contracts

17 for the acquisition of severable services for a period

18 that begins in 1 fiscal year and ends in the next fis19 cal year, to the same extent as executive agencies

20 may enter into such contracts under the authority of

21 section 303L of the Federal Property and Adminis22 trative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253l);

23 ‘‘(2) enter into multi-year contracts for the ac24 quisition of property or services to the same extent

25 as executive agencies may enter into such contracts
†

19

S 378 ES

1 under the authority of section 304B of the Federal

2 Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949

3 (41 U.S.C. 254c); and

4 ‘‘(3) make advance, partial, progress, or other

5 payments under contracts for property or services to

6 the same extent as executive agencies may make

7 such payments under the authority of section 305 of

8 the Federal Property and Administrative Services

9 Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 255).’’.

10 (b) SUNSET.—The amendment made by subsection

11 (a) shall cease to have force and effect on September 30,

12 2010.

13 SEC. 502. BANKRUPTCY, MAGISTRATE, AND TERRITORIAL

14 JUDGES LIFE INSURANCE.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 604(a)(5) of title 28,

16 United States Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘hold

17 office during good behavior,’’ the following: ‘‘bankruptcy

18 judges appointed under section 152 of this title, mag19 istrate judges appointed under section 631 of this title,

20 and territorial district court judges appointed under sec21 tion 24 of the Organic Act of Guam (48 U.S.C. 1424b),

22 section 1(b) of the Act of November 8, 1877 (48 U.S.C.

23 1821), or section 24(a) of the Revised Organic Act of the

24 Virgin Islands (48 U.S.C. 1614(a)),’’.
†

20

S 378 ES

1 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of construing

2 and applying chapter 87 of title 5, United States Code,

3 including any adjustment of insurance rates by regulation

4 or otherwise, the following categories of judicial officers

5 shall be deemed to be judges of the United States as de6 scribed under section 8701 of title 5, United States Code:

7 (1) Bankruptcy judges appointed under section

8 151 of title 28, United States Code.

9 (2) Magistrate judges appointed under section

10 631 of title 28, United States Code.

11 (3) Territorial district court judges appointed

12 under section 24 of the Organic Act of Guam (48

13 U.S.C. 1424b), section 1(b) of the Act of November

14 8, 1877 (48 U.S.C. 1821), or section 24(a) of the

15 Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands (48

16 U.S.C. 1614(a)).

17 (4) Judges retired under section 377 of title 28,

18 United States Code.

19 (5) Judges retired under section 373 of title 28,

20 United States Code.

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

22 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any payment

23 made on or after the first day of the first applicable pay

24 period beginning on or after the date of enactment of this

25 Act.
†

21

S 378 ES

1 SEC. 503. ASSIGNMENT OF JUDGES.

2 Section 296 of title 28, United States Code, is

3 amended by inserting at the end of the second undesig4 nated paragraph the following new sentence: ‘‘However,

5 a judge who has retired from regular active service under

6 section 371(b) of this title, when designated and assigned

7 to the court to which such judge was appointed, shall have

8 all the powers of a judge of that court, including participa9 tion in appointment of court officers and magistrate

10 judges, rulemaking, governance, and administrative mat11 ters.’’.

12 SEC. 504. SENIOR JUDGE PARTICIPATION IN THE SELEC13 TION OF MAGISTRATE JUDGES.

14 Section 631(a) of title 28, United States Code, is

15 amended by striking ‘‘Northern Mariana Islands’’ the first

16 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Northern Mariana Islands

17 (including any judge in regular active service and any

18 judge who has retired from regular active service under

19 section 371(b) of this title, when designated and assigned

20 to the court to which such judge was appointed)’’.

21 SEC. 505. FEDERAL JUDGES FOR COURTS OF APPEALS.

22 Section 44(a) of title 28, United States Code, is

23 amended in the table—

24 (1) in the item relating to the District of Co25 lumbia Circuit, by striking ‘‘12’’ and inserting ‘‘11’’;

26 and
†

22

S 378 ES

1 (2) in the item relating to the Ninth Circuit, by

2 striking ‘‘28’’ and inserting ‘‘29’’.

Passed the Senate April 19, 2007.

Attest:

Secretary.
110TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 378

AN ACT

To amend title 18, United States Code, to protect

family members, and for other purposes.judges, prosecutors, witnesses, victims, and their