[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4258 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4258

To penalize States that release individuals convicted of murder, rape, 
  or a dangerous sexual offense involving a child under the age of 14.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 1998

 Mr. Salmon (for himself, Mr. Scarborough, Mr. Livingston, Mr. Gilman, 
 Mr. Traficant, Mr. English of Pennsylvania, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, 
 Mr. Riley, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Hilleary, Mr. 
 Hayworth, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Saxton, Mr. Bob Schaffer of Colorado, Mr. 
Pitts, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Neumann, Mr. King, Mr. Ensign, Mr. 
   Fox of Pennsylvania, Mr. Foley, Mr. McHale, Mr. Christensen, Mr. 
Weller, Mr. Cunningham, and Mrs. Fowler) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To penalize States that release individuals convicted of murder, rape, 
  or a dangerous sexual offense involving a child under the age of 14.

    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 ``No Second Chances for Murderers, 
Rapists, or Child Molesters Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) any individual convicted of murder should receive the 
        death penalty or be imprisoned for life without the possibility 
        of parole; and
            (2) any individual convicted of rape or a dangerous sexual 
        offense involving a child under the age of 14 should be 
        imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole.

SEC. 3. PENALTY FOR STATES THAT RELEASE CERTAIN FELONS.

    (a) Penalty.--
            (1) In general.--In a case in which a State convicts a 
        person of murder, rape, or a dangerous sexual offense, who has 
        a prior conviction for one of these offenses in another State, 
        the Attorney General shall administer the transfer of the 
        following amounts from Federal law enforcement assistance funds 
        of the State that convicted such person of the first offense:
                    (A) Up to $100,000 shall be transferred to each 
                victim (or if the victim is deceased, the victim's 
                estate) of the subsequent offense.
                    (B) The cost of incarceration, prosecution, and 
                apprehension of such person shall be transferred to the 
                State that convicted of a subsequent offense. Half of 
                the amounts transferred shall be paid to the State 
                entity designated to administer crime victim 
                assistance, and half shall be deposited in a State 
                account that collects Federal law enforcement funds.
            (2) Multiple states.--In a case in which a State convicts a 
        person of murder, rape, or a dangerous sexual offense, who has 
        a prior conviction for one of these offenses in more than one 
        State, the Attorney General shall administer the transfer of 
        the following amounts from Federal law enforcement assistance 
        funds of each State that convicted of a prior offense:
                    (A) Up to $100,000 shall be apportioned equally 
                among the States that convicted of prior offenses and 
                transferred to each victim (or if the victim is 
                deceased, the victim's estate) of the subsequent 
                offense.
                    (B) The cost of incarceration, prosecution, and 
                apprehension of such person shall be apportioned 
                equally among the States that convicted of prior 
                offenses and transferred to the State that convicted of 
                a subsequent offense. Half of the amounts transferred 
                shall be paid to the State entity designated to 
                administer crime victim assistance, and half shall be 
                deposited in a State account that collects Federal law 
                enforcement funds.
    (b) State Applications.--To receive funds under this section, the 
chief executive of a State shall submit an application to the Attorney 
General in such form and containing such information as the Attorney 
General may reasonably require, including a certification that the 
State has convicted a person of murder, rape, or a dangerous sexual 
offense, who has a prior conviction for one of these offenses in 
another State.
    (c) Source of Funds.--Any amount transferred as a result of 
subsection (a) shall be derived by reducing funds from Federal law 
enforcement assistance programs received by the State that convicted of 
the first offense. The Attorney General, in consultation with the chief 
executive of the State that convicted of the first offense, shall 
develop a payment schedule.
    (d) Construction.--This section shall not be construed to diminish 
or modify any court ordered restitution.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION.

    The United States Sentencing Commission shall amend the Federal 
Sentencing Guidelines to provide that--
            (1) whoever is guilty of murder, as defined in section 6 of 
        this Act, shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for 
        life; and
            (2) whoever is guilty of rape or a dangerous sexual 
        offense, as defined in section 6 of this Act, shall be punished 
        by imprisonment for life.

SEC. 5. COLLECTION OF RECIDIVISM DATA.

    Pursuant to guidelines established in the Uniform Federal Crime 
Reporting Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-690), the Attorney General shall 
collect and distribute data to the President, Members of the Congress, 
State governments, and officials of localities and penal and other 
institutions participating in the Uniform Crime Reports program which 
includes--
            (1) the number of murders, rapes, and dangerous sexual 
        offenses committed by persons previously convicted of one of 
        these offenses; and
            (2) the percentage of cases in which a person convicted of 
        murder, rape, or a dangerous sexual offense in one State 
        commits a second offense in another State.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) Murder.--The term ``murder'' means the unlawful killing 
        of a human being with malice aforethought, and includes 
        murder--
                    (A) perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any 
                other kind of willful, deliberate, malicious, and 
                premeditated killing;
                    (B) committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to 
                perpetrate, any arson, escape, murder, kidnapping, 
                treason, espionage, sabotage, aggravated sexual abuse 
                or sexual abuse, burglary, or robbery; or
                    (C) perpetrated from a premeditated design 
                unlawfully and maliciously to effect the death of any 
                individual other than the individual who is killed.
            (2) Rape.--The term ``rape'' includes the carnal knowledge 
        of an individual forcibly and against the will of such 
        individual.
            (3) Dangerous sexual offense.--The term ``dangerous sexual 
        offense'' means sexual abuse or sexually explicit conduct 
        committed by an individual who is over the age of 18 against a 
        child under the age of 14.
            (4)  Sexual abuse.--The term ``sexual abuse'' includes the 
        employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or 
        coercion of a child under the age of 14 to engage in, or assist 
        another person to engage in, sexually explicit conduct or the 
        rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual 
        exploitation of children, or incest with children.
            (5) Sexually explicit conduct.--The term ``sexually 
        explicit conduct'' means actual or simulated--
                    (A) sexual intercourse, including sexual contact in 
                the manner of genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-
                genital, or oral-anal contact, whether between persons 
                of the same or of opposite sex;
                    (B) bestiality;
                    (C) masturbation;
                    (D) lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic 
                area of a person or animal; or
                    (E) sadistic or masochistic abuse.
            (6) Sexual contact.--The term ``sexual contact'' means the 
        intentional touching, either directly or though clothing, of 
        the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of 
        any person with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, 
        or arouse or gratify sexual desire of any person.
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