[111th Congress Public Law 294]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]



[[Page 124 STAT. 3177]]

Public Law 111-294
111th Congress

                                 An Act


 
 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit interstate commerce 
             in animal crush videos, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Dec. 9, 2010 -  [H.R. 5566]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Animal Crush 
Video Prohibition Act of 2010.>> 
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 18 USC 1 note.>>  SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 
2010''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 18 USC 48 note.>>  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

[[Page 124 STAT. 3178]]

        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. <<NOTE: 18 USC 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, 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.

    ``(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, 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.

[[Page 124 STAT. 3179]]

    ``(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) <<NOTE: 18 USC 48 note.>>  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.
SEC. 4. PAYGO COMPLIANCE.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for purposes of complying with 
the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, jointly submitted for printing in the 
Congressional Record by the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget 
Committees, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 
vote on passage in the House acting first on this conference report or 
amendments between the Houses.

    Approved December 9, 2010.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 5566:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 111-549 (Comm. on the Judiciary).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 156 (2010):
            July 20, 21, considered and passed House.
            Sept. 28, considered and passed Senate, amended.
            Nov. 15, House concurred in Senate amendment with an 
                amendment
              pursuant to H. Res. 1712.
            Nov. 19, Senate concurred in House amendment.

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