S. 4042

One Hundred Ninth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the third day of January, two thousand and six

An Act

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit disruptions of funerals of members

or former members of the Armed Forces.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. RESPECT FOR THE FUNERALS OF FALLEN HEROES.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 67 of title 18, United States Code,

is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

‘‘§ 1388. Prohibition on disruptions of funerals of members

or former members of the Armed Forces

‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—For any funeral of a member or former

member of the Armed Forces that is not located at a cemetery

under the control of the National Cemetery Administration or part

of Arlington National Cemetery, it shall be unlawful for any person

to engage in an activity during the period beginning 60 minutes

before and ending 60 minutes after such funeral, any part of which

activity—

‘‘(1)(A) takes place within the boundaries of the location

of such funeral or takes place within 150 feet of the point

of the intersection between—

‘‘(i) the boundary of the location of such funeral; and

‘‘(ii) a road, pathway, or other route of ingress to or

egress from the location of such funeral; and

‘‘(B) includes any individual willfully making or assisting

in the making of any noise or diversion that is not part of

such funeral and that disturbs or tends to disturb the peace

or good order of such funeral with the intent of disturbing

the peace or good order of that funeral; or

‘‘(2)(A) is within 300 feet of the boundary of the location

of such funeral; and

‘‘(B) includes any individual willfully and without proper

authorization impeding the access to or egress from such location with the intent to impede the access to or egress from

such location.

‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection (a) shall

be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 1 year,

or both.

‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

‘‘(1) The term ‘Armed Forces’ has the meaning given the

term in section 101 of title 10.

‘‘(2) The term ‘funeral of a member or former member

of the Armed Forces’ means any ceremony or memorial service
S. 4042—2

held in connection with the burial or cremation of a member

or former member of the Armed Forces. ‘‘(3) The term ‘boundary of the location’, with respect to

a funeral of a member or former member of the Armed Forces,

means—

‘‘(A) in the case of a funeral of a member or former

member of the Armed Forces that is held at a cemetery,

the property line of the cemetery; ‘‘(B) in the case of a funeral of a member or former

member of the Armed Forces that is held at a mortuary,

the property line of the mortuary; ‘‘(C) in the case of a funeral of a member or former

member of the Armed Forces that is held at a house of

worship, the property line of the house of worship; and ‘‘(D) in the case of a funeral of a member or former

member of the Armed Forces that is held at any other

kind of location, the reasonable property line of that location.’’. (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 67 of such title is amended by inserting after

the item related to section 1387 the following new item:

‘‘1388. Prohibition on disruptions of funerals of members or former members of the

Armed Forces.’’.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.