[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2448 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2448

             To provide protection from personal intrusion.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 10, 1997

   Mr. Bono introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
             To provide protection from personal intrusion.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protection From Personal Intrusion 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 89 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1822. Harassment
    ``(a) In General.--Whoever harasses any person within the United 
States or the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the 
United States, or a citizen of the United States outside the United 
States shall--
            ``(1) if death results, not less than 20 years imprisonment 
        and a fine under title 18, United States Code;
            ``(2) if bodily injury results, not less than 5 years' 
        imprisonment and a fine under title 18, United States Code; and
            ``(3) if neither death nor bodily injury results, 
        imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine under this 
        title, or both.
    ``(b) Definition of `Harass'.--As used in this section, the term 
`harass' means persistently physically following or chasing a victim, 
in circumstances where the victim has a reasonable expectation of 
privacy and has taken reasonable steps to insure that privacy, for the 
purpose of capturing by a camera or sound recording instrument of any 
type a visual image, sound recording, or other physical impression of 
the victim for profit in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce.
    ``(c) Limitation on Defenses.--It is not a defense to a prosecution 
under this section that--
            ``(1) no image or recording was in fact captured; or
            ``(2) no image or recording was in fact sold for profit.
    ``(d) Cause of Action.--(1) Any person who is legally present in 
the United States and is the victim of a violation of this section may, 
in a civil action against the person engaging in the violation, obtain 
any appropriate relief.
    ``(2) Any district court of the United States shall have 
jurisdiction over a claim asserted under this section, notwithstanding 
that the claim arises out of events that occurred outside of the 
territorial or special jurisdiction of the United States.
    ``(e) Use of Images.--Nothing in this section may be construed to 
make the sale, transmission, publication, broadcast, or use of any 
image or recording of the type or under the circumstances described 
herein in any otherwise lawful manner by any person subject to criminal 
charge or civil liability.
    ``(f) Limitation.--Only a person physically present and pursuing or 
assisting in pursuing the plaintiff at the time a violation of this 
section occurred is subject to criminal charge or civil liability based 
on this section. A person shall not be subject to such liability by 
reason of the conduct of an agent, employee, or contractor of that 
person, or because images or recordings captured in violation of this 
Act were solicited by, bought by, used by, or sold by that person.
    ``(g) Law Enforcement Exemption.--The prohibitions of this section 
do not apply with respect to legitimate law enforcement activities.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 89 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new item:

``1822. Harassment.''.
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