[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3841 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3841
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the creation, sale,
distribution, advertising, marketing, and exchange of animal crush
videos that depict obscene acts of animal cruelty, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 27, 2010
Mr. Kyl (for himself, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Burr) 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 the creation, sale,
distribution, advertising, marketing, and exchange of animal crush
videos that depict obscene acts of animal cruelty, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act
of 2010''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States has a long history of prohibiting the
interstate sale, marketing, advertising, exchange, and
distribution of obscene material and speech that is integral to
criminal conduct.
(2) The Federal Government and the States have a compelling
interest in preventing intentional acts of extreme animal
cruelty.
(3) Each of the several States and the District of Columbia
criminalize intentional acts of extreme animal cruelty, such as
the intentional crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, or
impaling of animals for no socially redeeming purpose.
(4) There are certain extreme acts of animal cruelty that
appeal to a specific sexual fetish. These acts of extreme
animal cruelty are videotaped, and the resulting video tapes
are commonly referred to as ``animal crush videos''.
(5) The Supreme Court of the United States has long held
that obscenity is an exception to speech protected under the
First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
(6) In the judgment of Congress, many animal crush videos
are obscene in the sense that the depictions, taken as a
whole--
(A) appeal to the prurient interest in sex;
(B) are patently offensive; and
(C) lack serious literary, artistic, political, or
scientific value.
(7) Serious criminal acts of extreme animal cruelty are
integral to the creation, sale, distribution, advertising,
marketing, and exchange of animal crush videos.
(8) The creation, sale, distribution, advertising,
marketing, and exchange of animal crush videos is intrinsically
related and integral to creating an incentive for, directly
causing, and perpetuating demand for the serious acts of
extreme animal cruelty the videos depict. The primary reason
for those criminal acts is the creation, sale, distribution,
advertising, marketing, and exchange of the animal crush video
image.
(9) The serious acts of extreme animal cruelty necessary to
make animal crush videos are committed in a clandestine manner
that--
(A) allows the perpetrators of such crimes to
remain anonymous;
(B) makes it extraordinarily difficult to establish
the jurisdiction within which the underlying criminal
acts of extreme animal cruelty occurred; and
(C) often precludes proof that the criminal acts
occurred within the statute of limitations.
(10) Each of the difficulties described in paragraph (9)
seriously frustrates and impedes the ability of State
authorities to enforce the criminal statutes prohibiting such
behavior.
SEC. 3. ANIMAL CRUSH VIDEOS.
(a) In General.--Section 48 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 48. Animal crush videos
``(a) Definition.--In this section the term `animal crush video'
means any photograph, motion-picture film, video or digital recording,
or electronic image that--
``(1) depicts actual conduct in which 1 or more living non-
human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians is intentionally
crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise
subjected to serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365
and including conduct that, if committed against a person and
in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the
United States, would violate section 2241 or 2242); and
``(2) is obscene.
``(b) Prohibitions.--
``(1) Creation of animal crush videos.--It shall be
unlawful for any person to knowingly create an animal crush
video, or to attempt or conspire to do so, if--
``(A) the person intends or has reason to know that
the animal crush video will be distributed in, or using
a means or facility of, interstate or foreign commerce;
or
``(B) the animal crush video is distributed in, or
using a means or facility of, interstate or foreign
commerce.
``(2) Distribution of animal crush videos.--It shall be
unlawful for any person to knowingly sell, market, advertise,
exchange, or distribute an animal crush video in, or using a
means or facility of, interstate or foreign commerce, or to
attempt or conspire to do so.
``(c) Extraterritorial Application.--Subsection (b) shall apply to
the knowing sale, marketing, advertising, exchange, distribution, or
creation of an animal crush video outside of the United States, or any
attempt or conspiracy to do so, if--
``(1) the person engaging in such conduct intends or has
reason to know that the animal crush video will be transported
into the United States or its territories or possessions; or
``(2) the animal crush video is transported into the United
States or its territories or possessions.''
``(d) Penalty.--Any person who violates subsection (b) shall be
fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 7 years, or both.
``(e) Exceptions.--
``(1) In general.--This section shall not apply with regard
to any visual depiction of--
``(A) customary and normal veterinary or
agricultural husbandry practices;
``(B) the slaughter of animals for food; or
``(C) hunting, trapping, or fishing.
``(2) Good-faith distribution.--This section shall not
apply to the good-faith distribution of an animal crush video
to--
``(A) a law enforcement agency; or
``(B) a third party for the sole purpose of
analysis to determine if referral to a law enforcement
agency is appropriate.
``(f) No Preemption.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to
preempt the law of any State or local subdivision thereof to protect
animals.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The item relating to section 48 in the
table of sections for chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``48. Animal crush videos.''.
(c) Severability.--If any provision of section 48 of title 18,
United States Code (as amended by this section), or the application of
the provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be
unconstitutional, the provision and the application of the provision to
other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
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