I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5045
To provide a civil action for a minor injured by exposure to an entertainment
product containing material that is harmful to minors, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 27, 2000
Mr. HUNTER (for himself, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. BRADY of
Texas, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. STUMP, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr.
SOUDER, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. PITTS, and Mr. JONES of North Carolina)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
A BILL
To provide a civil action for a minor injured by exposure
to an entertainment product containing material that
is harmful to minors, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Parents’ Empower-
ment Act’’.
SEC. 2. CIVIL ACTION FOR A MINOR INJURED BY EXPO-
SURE TO AN ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCT
CONTAINING MATERIAL THAT IS HARMFUL
TO MINORS.
(a) CIVIL ACTION.—A minor, through a person act-
ing on behalf of the minor in accordance with Rule 17(c)
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to the extent appli-
cable, may, in a civil action in an appropriate district court
of the United States, obtain relief under subsection (b)
against any person who knowingly sells or distributes in
interstate or foreign commerce an entertainment product
containing material that is harmful to minors, if—
(1) a reasonable person would expect a substan-
tial number of minors to be exposed to the material;
and
(2) the minor as a result of exposure to that
material is likely to suffer personal or emotional in-
jury or injury to mental or moral welfare.
(b) RELIEF.—In an action under subsection (a), if
the minor is the prevailing party—
(1) the minor shall recover compensatory dam-
ages of not less than $10,000 for each instance of
any such material in any such product to which such
minor was so exposed;
(2) the minor may recover punitive damages;
(3) the court, in its discretion, may allow the
minor a reasonable attorney’s fee (including expert
fees) as part of the costs; and
(4) the court may order any other appropriate
relief.
(c) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—It is an affirmative de-
fense to an action under this section that a parent or
guardian of the minor owned or possessed the entertain-
ment product containing the material to which the minor
was exposed, and an act of that parent or guardian was
the proximate cause of the minor’s exposure to that mate-
rial.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
(1) The term ‘‘entertainment product’’ means a
picture, photograph, image, graphic image file,
drawing, video game, motion picture film, or similar
visual representation or image, book, pamphlet,
magazine, printed matter, or sound recording.
(2) The term ‘‘material that is harmful to mi-
nors’’ means any pornographic communication, pic-
ture, image, graphic image file, article, recording,
writing, or other pornographic matter of any kind
that is obscene or that—
(A) the average person, applying the con-
temporary standards of the adult community in
which the minor resides with respect to what is
suitable for minors, would find, taking the ma-
terial as a whole and with respect to minors of
the ages that the person reasonably would ex-
pect to be exposed to the material—
(i) is designed to appeal to, or is de-
signed to pander to, the prurient interest
in nudity, sex, or excretion, with respect to
minors; and
(ii) depicts, describes, or represents,
in a manner patently offensive with respect
to minors, an actual or simulated sexual
act or sexual contact, an actual or simu-
lated normal or perverted sexual act, or a
lewd exhibition of the genitals or post-pu-
bescent female breast; and
(B) a reasonable person would find, taken
as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, polit-
ical, and scientific value for minors sufficient to
overcome the pernicious effect of that material.
(3) The term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual
under the age of 18.
(e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section
or any application of such provision to any person or cir-
cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder
of this section and the application of the provision to any
other person or circumstance shall not be affected.
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