108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2329

AN ACT

To protect crime victims’ rights.

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 ‘‘Scott Campbell, Steph5 anie Roper, Wendy Preston, Louarna Gillis, and Nila

6 Lynn Crime Victims’ Rights Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS.

2 (a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 18.—Part II of title 18,

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

4 following:

5 ‘‘CHAPTER 237—CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS

‘‘Sec.

‘‘3771. Crime victims’ rights.

6 ‘‘§ 3771. Crime victims’ rights

7 ‘‘(a) RIGHTS OF CRIME VICTIMS.—A crime victim

8 has the following rights:

9 ‘‘(1) The right to be reasonably protected from

10 the accused.

11 ‘‘(2) The right to reasonable, accurate, and

12 timely notice of any public proceeding involving the

13 crime or of any release or escape of the accused.

14 ‘‘(3) The right not to be excluded from any

15 such public proceeding.

16 ‘‘(4) The right to be reasonably heard at any

17 public proceeding involving release, plea, or sen18 tencing.

19 ‘‘(5) The right to confer with the attorney for

20 the Government in the case.

21 ‘‘(6) The right to full and timely restitution as

22 provided in law.

23 ‘‘(7) The right to proceedings free from unrea24 sonable delay.
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1 ‘‘(8) The right to be treated with fairness and

2 with respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy.

3 ‘‘(b) RIGHTS AFFORDED.—In any court proceeding

4 involving an offense against a crime victim, the court shall

5 ensure that the crime victim is afforded the rights de6 scribed in subsection (a). The reasons for any decision de7 nying relief under this chapter shall be clearly stated on

8 the record.

9 ‘‘(c) BEST EFFORTS TO ACCORD RIGHTS.—

10 ‘‘(1) GOVERNMENT.—Officers and employees of

11 the Department of Justice and other departments

12 and agencies of the United States engaged in the de13 tection, investigation, or prosecution of crime shall

14 make their best efforts to see that crime victims are

15 notified of, and accorded, the rights described in

16 subsection (a).

17 ‘‘(2) CONFLICT.—In the event of any material

18 conflict of interest between the prosecutor and the

19 crime victim, the prosecutor shall advise the crime

20 victim of the conflict and take reasonable steps to

21 direct the crime victim to the appropriate legal refer22 ral, legal assistance, or legal aid agency.

23 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—Notice of release otherwise re24 quired pursuant to this chapter shall not be given if

25 such notice may endanger the safety of any person.
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1 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT AND LIMITATIONS.—

2 ‘‘(1) RIGHTS.—The crime victim, the crime vic3 tim’s lawful representative, and the attorney for the

4 Government may assert the rights established in this

5 chapter. A person accused of the crime may not ob6 tain any form of relief under this chapter.

7 ‘‘(2) MULTIPLE CRIME VICTIMS.—In a case

8 where the court finds that the number of crime vic9 tims makes it impracticable to accord all of the

10 crime victims the rights contained in this chapter,

11 the court shall fashion a procedure to give effect to

12 this chapter.

13 ‘‘(3) WRIT OF MANDAMUS.—If a Federal court

14 denies any right of a crime victim under this chapter

15 or under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure,

16 the Government or the crime victim may apply for

17 a writ of mandamus to the appropriate court of ap18 peals. The court of appeals shall take up and decide

19 such application forthwith and shall order such relief

20 as may be necessary to protect the crime victim’s

21 ability to exercise the rights.

22 ‘‘(4) ERROR.—In any appeal in a criminal case,

23 the Government may assert as error the district

24 court’s denial of any crime victim’s right in the pro25 ceeding to which the appeal relates.
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1 ‘‘(5) NEW TRIAL.—In no case shall a failure to

2 afford a right under this chapter provide grounds for

3 a new trial.

4 ‘‘(6) NO CAUSE OF ACTION.—Nothing in this

5 chapter shall be construed to authorize a cause of

6 action for damages.

7 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this chap8 ter, the term ‘crime victim’ means a person directly and

9 proximately harmed as a result of the commission of a

10 Federal offense. In the case of a crime victim who is under

11 18 years of age, incompetent, incapacitated, or deceased,

12 the legal guardians of the crime victim or the representa13 tives of the crime victim’s estate, family members, or any

14 other persons appointed as suitable by the court, may as15 sume the crime victim’s rights under this chapter, but in

16 no event shall the defendant be named as such guardian

17 or representative.

18 ‘‘(f) PROCEDURES TO PROMOTE COMPLIANCE.—

19 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year

20 after the date of enactment of this chapter, the At21 torney General of the United States shall promul22 gate regulations to enforce the rights of crime vic23 tims and to ensure compliance by responsible offi24 cials with the obligations described in law respecting

25 crime victims.
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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The regulations promulgated

2 under paragraph (1) shall—

3 ‘‘(A) establish an administrative authority

4 within the Department of Justice to receive and

5 investigate complaints relating to the provision

6 or violation of the rights of a crime victim;

7 ‘‘(B) require a course of training for em8 ployees and offices of the Department of Jus9 tice that fail to comply with provisions of Fed10 eral law pertaining to the treatment of crime

11 victims, and otherwise assist such employees

12 and offices in responding more effectively to the

13 needs of crime victims;

14 ‘‘(C) contain disciplinary sanctions, includ15 ing suspension or termination from employ16 ment, for employees of the Department of Jus17 tice who willfully or wantonly fail to comply

18 with provisions of Federal law pertaining to the

19 treatment of crime victims; and

20 ‘‘(D) provide that the Attorney General, or

21 the designee of the Attorney General, shall be

22 the final arbiter of the complaint, and that

23 there shall be no judicial review of the final de24 cision of the Attorney General by a complain25 ant.’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chapters for

2 part II of title 18, United States Code, is amended by

3 inserting at the end the following:

‘‘237. Crime victims’ rights ............................................................. 3771’’.

4 (c) REPEAL.—Section 502 of the Victims’ Rights and

5 Restitution Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 10606) is repealed.

6 SEC. 3. INCREASED RESOURCES FOR ENFORCEMENT OF

7 CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS.

8 (a) CRIME VICTIMS LEGAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.—

9 The Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601 et

10 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 1404C the fol11 lowing:

12 ‘‘SEC. 1404D. CRIME VICTIMS LEGAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director may make grants

14 as provided in section 1404(c)(1)(A) to State, tribal, and

15 local prosecutors’ offices, law enforcement agencies,

16 courts, jails, and correctional institutions, and to qualified

17 public and private entities, to develop, establish, and main18 tain programs for the enforcement of crime victims’ rights

19 as provided in law.

20 ‘‘(b) FALSE CLAIMS ACT.—Notwithstanding any

21 other provision of law, amounts collected pursuant to sec22 tions 3729 through 3731 of title 31, United States Code

23 (commonly known as the ‘False Claims Act’), may be used

24 for grants under this section, subject to appropriation.’’.
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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi2 tion to funds made available under section 1402(d) of the

3 Victims of Crime Act of 1984, there are authorized to be

4 appropriated to carry out this Act—

5 (1) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and

6 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006, 2007,

7 2008, and 2009 to United States Attorneys Offices

8 for Victim/Witnesses Assistance Programs;

9 (2) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and

10 $5,000,000 in each of the fiscal years 2006, 2007,

11 2008, and 2009, to the Office for Victims of Crime

12 of the Department of Justice for enhancement of the

13 Victim Notification System;

14 (3) $300,000 in fiscal year 2005 and $500,000

15 for each of the fiscal years 2006, 2007, 2008, and

16 2009, to the Office for Victims of Crime of the De17 partment of Justice for staff to administer the ap18 propriation for the support of the National Crime

19 Victim Law Institute or other organizations as des20 ignated under paragraph (4);

21 (4) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and

22 $11,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006, 2007,

23 2008, and 2009, to the Office for Victims of Crime

24 of the Department of Justice, for the support of—
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1 (A) the National Crime Victim Law Insti2 tute and the establishment and operation of the

3 Institute’s programs to provide counsel for vic4 tims in criminal cases for the enforcement of

5 crime victims’ rights in Federal jurisdictions,

6 and in States and tribal governments that have

7 laws substantially equivalent to the provisions

8 of chapter 237 of title 18, United States Code;

9 or

10 (B) other organizations substantially simi11 lar to that organization as determined by the

12 Director of the Office for Victims of Crime.

13 (c) INCREASED RESOURCES TO DEVELOP STATE-OF14 THE-ART SYSTEMS FOR NOTIFYING CRIME VICTIMS OF

15 IMPORTANT DATES AND DEVELOPMENTS.—The Victims

16 of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601 et seq.) is amend17 ed by inserting after section 1404D the following:

18 ‘‘SEC. 1404E. CRIME VICTIMS NOTIFICATION GRANTS.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director may make grants

20 as provided in section 1404(c)(1)(A) to State, tribal, and

21 local prosecutors’ offices, law enforcement agencies,

22 courts, jails, and correctional institutions, and to qualified

23 public or private entities, to develop and implement state24 of-the-art systems for notifying victims of crime of impor25 tant dates and developments relating to the criminal pro-
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1 ceedings at issue in a timely and efficient manner, pro2 vided that the jurisdiction has laws substantially equiva3 lent to the provisions of chapter 237 of title 18, United

4 States Code.

5 ‘‘(b) INTEGRATION OF SYSTEMS.—Systems developed

6 and implemented under this section may be integrated

7 with existing case management systems operated by the

8 recipient of the grant.

9 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In ad10 dition to funds made available under section 1402(d),

11 there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this

12 section—

13 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; and

14 ‘‘(2) $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years

15 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

16 ‘‘(d) FALSE CLAIMS ACT.—Notwithstanding any

17 other provision of law, amounts collected pursuant to sec18 tions 3729 through 3731 of title 31, United States Code

19 (commonly known as the ‘False Claims Act’), may be used

20 for grants under this section, subject to appropriation.’’.

21 SEC. 4. REPORTS.

22 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE UNITED

23 STATES COURTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date

24 of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Ad25 ministrative Office of the United States Courts, for each
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1 Federal court, shall report to Congress the number of

2 times that a right established in chapter 237 of title 18,

3 United States Code, is asserted in a criminal case and the

4 relief requested is denied and, with respect to each such

5 denial, the reason for such denial, as well as the number

6 of times a mandamus action is brought pursuant to chap7 ter 237 of title 18, and the result reached.

8 (b) GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE.—

9 (1) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall

10 conduct a study that evaluates the effect and effi11 cacy of the implementation of the amendments made

12 by this Act on the treatment of crime victims in the

13 Federal system.

14 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller Gen16 eral shall prepare and submit to the appropriate

17 committees a report containing the results of the

18 study conducted under subsection (a).

Passed the Senate April 22, 2004.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2329

AN ACT

To protect crime victims’ rights.