II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4042 

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

of members or former members of the Armed Forces. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. CONRAD, and Mr. BAYH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

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

Armed Forces. 

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

3 SECTION 1. RESPECT FOR THE FUNERALS OF FALLEN HE4 ROES. 

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

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1388. Prohibition on disruptions of funerals of 

2 members or former members of the 

3 Armed Forces 

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

5 former member of the Armed Forces that is not located 

6 at a cemetery under the control of the National Cemetery 

7 Administration or part of Arlington National Cemetery, 

8 it shall be unlawful for any person to engage in an activity 

9 during the period beginning 60 minutes before and ending 

10 60 minutes after such funeral, any part of which activ11 ity— 

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

13 location of such funeral or takes place within 150 

14 feet of the point of the intersection between— 

15 ‘‘(i) the boundary of the location of such 

16 funeral; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) a road, pathway, or other route of in18 gress to or egress from the location of such fu19 neral; and 

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

21 assisting in the making of any noise or diversion 

22 that is not part of such funeral and that disturbs or 

23 tends to disturb the peace or good order of such fu24 neral with the intent of disturbing the peace or good 

25 order of that funeral; or 


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

2 the location of such funeral; and 

3 ‘‘(B) includes any individual willfully and with4 out proper authorization impeding the access to or 

5 egress from such location with the intent to impede 

6 the access to or egress from such location. 

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

8 (a) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more 

9 than 1 year, or both. 

10 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

12 given the term in section 101 of title 10. 

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

14 member of the Armed Forces’ means any ceremony 

15 or memorial service held in connection with the bur16 ial or cremation of a member or former member of 

17 the Armed Forces. 

18 ‘‘(3) The term ‘boundary of the location’, with 

19 respect to a funeral of a member or former member 

20 of the Armed Forces, means— 

21 ‘‘(A) in the case of a funeral of a member 

22 or former member of the Armed Forces that is 

23 held at a cemetery, the property line of the 

24 cemetery; 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a funeral of a member 

2 or former member of the Armed Forces that is 

3 held at a mortuary, the property line of the 

4 mortuary; 

5 ‘‘(C) in the case of a funeral of a member 

6 or former member of the Armed Forces that is 

7 held at a house of worship, the property line of 

8 the house of worship; and 

9 ‘‘(D) in the case of a funeral of a member 

10 or former member of the Armed Forces that is 

11 held at any other kind of location, the reason12 able property line of that location.’’. 

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

14 at the beginning of chapter 67 of such title is amended 

15 by inserting after the item related to section 1387 the fol16 lowing new item: 

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

of the Armed Forces.’’. 

Æ 


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