[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2279 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2279

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit panic defenses based 
        on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 12, 2023

 Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. 
    Hirono, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
   Padilla, Mr. Booker, Mr. Casey, Mr. Menendez, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. 
 Smith, and Mr. Cardin) 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 panic defenses based 
        on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

    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 ``LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act 
of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the American Bar Association has urged the Federal 
        Government to take legislative action to curtail the 
        availability and effectiveness of legal defenses that seek to 
        partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and 
        assault on the grounds that the sexual orientation or gender 
        identity or expression of the victim was provocation enough for 
        the violent reaction of the defendant;
            (2) panic defenses based on sexual orientation or gender 
        identity or expression, which continue to be raised in criminal 
        proceedings in Federal courts across the United States, are 
        surprisingly long-lived historical artifacts, remnants of a 
        time when widespread public antipathy was the norm for lesbian, 
        gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to in this Act 
        as ``LGBTQ'') individuals;
            (3) panic defenses based on sexual orientation or gender 
        identity or expression characterize sexual orientation and 
        gender identity or expression as objectively reasonable excuses 
        for loss of self-control, and thereby illegitimately mitigate 
        the responsibility of a perpetrator for harm done to LGBTQ 
        individuals;
            (4) panic defenses based on sexual orientation or gender 
        identity or expression appeal to irrational fears and hatred of 
        LGBTQ individuals, thereby undermining the legitimacy of 
        Federal criminal prosecutions and resulting in unjustifiable 
        acquittals or sentencing reductions;
            (5) the use of panic defenses based on sexual orientation 
        or gender identity or expression is entirely incompatible with 
        the express intent of Federal law to provide increased 
        protection to victims of bias-motivated crimes, including 
        crimes committed against LGBTQ individuals;
            (6) continued use of these anachronistic defenses 
        reinforces and institutionalizes prejudice at the expense of 
        norms of self-control, tolerance, and compassion, which the law 
        should encourage, and marks an egregious lapse in the march of 
        the United States toward a more just criminal justice system; 
        and
            (7) to end the antiquated notion that LGBTQ lives are worth 
        less than others and to reflect modern understanding of LGBTQ 
        individuals as equal citizens under law, panic defenses based 
        on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression must 
        end.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PANIC DEFENSES BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR 
              GENDER IDENTITY OR EXPRESSION.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 28. Prohibition on panic defenses based on sexual orientation or 
              gender identity or expression
    ``(a) Prohibition.--No nonviolent sexual advance or perception or 
belief, even if inaccurate, of the gender, gender identity or 
expression, or sexual orientation of an individual may be used to 
excuse or justify the conduct of an individual or mitigate the severity 
of an offense.
    ``(b) Past Trauma.--Notwithstanding the prohibition in subsection 
(a), a court may admit evidence, in accordance with the Federal Rules 
of Evidence, of prior trauma to the defendant for the purpose of 
excusing or justifying the conduct of the defendant or mitigating the 
severity of an offense.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``28. Prohibition on panic defenses based on sexual orientation or 
                            gender identity or expression.''.
    (c) Report.--The Attorney General shall submit to Congress an 
annual report that details prosecutions in Federal court involving 
capital and noncapital crimes committed against LGBTQ individuals that 
were motivated by the victim's gender, gender identity or expression, 
or sexual orientation.
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