[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 924 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 924

To amend title 18, United States Code, to give further assurance to the 
  right of victims of crime to attend and observe the trials of those 
                         accused of the crime.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 1997

  Mr. McCollum (for himself, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Lucas of Oklahoma) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to give further assurance to the 
  right of victims of crime to attend and observe the trials of those 
                         accused of the crime.

    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 ``Victim Allocution Clarification Act 
of 1997''.

SEC. 2. RIGHTS OF VICTIMS TO ATTEND AND OBSERVE TRIAL.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 223 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3510. Rights of victims to attend and observe trial
    ``A United States district court shall not order any victim of an 
offense excluded from the trial of a defendant accused of that offense 
because such victim may or will--
            ``(1) exercise the right to make a statement or present any 
        information in relation to the sentence at the imposition of 
        sentence; or
            ``(2) testify as to the effect of the offense on the victim 
        and the victim's family.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 223 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following new item:

``3510. Rights of victims to attend and observe trial.''.
    (c) Effect on Pending Cases.--The amendments made by this section 
shall apply in cases pending on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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