Violence Against Women Act of 1991

Violence Against Women Act of 1991 - Title I: Safe Streets for Women - Safe Streets for Women Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Federal Penalties for Sex Crimes - Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) authorize judges to increase sentences for repeat sex offenders to up to twice that otherwise authorized by statute; and (2) require the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend sentencing guidelines to provide that a defendant convicted of sexual abuse or aggravated sexual abuse shall be assigned a base offense level that is at least four levels greater than the base offense level applicable to criminal sexual abuse under the guidelines in effect on November 1, 1990, or to otherwise amend the guidelines applicable to such offenses so as to achieve a comparable minimum guideline sentence.

Requires that a court order restitution for violations of such Federal sexual abuse laws.

Authorizes appropriations to U.S. Attorneys to appoint victim/witness counselors for the prosecution of sex crimes.

Subtitle B: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Reduce Violent Crime Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to areas of high intensity crime against women. Requires that the grants be used for personnel, training, technical assistance, data collection, and other equipment for the more widespread apprehension, prosecution, and adjudication of persons committing violent crimes against women. Authorizes the Director to make grants to States for use by States, their subdivisions, and nonprofit nongovernmental victim services programs for the same purposes as the high intensity area grants and to reduce the rate of violent crimes against women.

Authorizes the Director to make general grants to: (1) States to reduce violent crimes against women; and (2) Indian tribes to reduce violent crimes against women in Indian country.

Authorizes the Director to direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to use its authorities and resources in support of State and local assistance efforts.

Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle C: Safety for Women in Public Transit and Public Parks - Directs the Secretary of Transportation, from funds authorized under existing provisions, to make capital grants for the prevention of crime and to increase security in existing and future public transportation systems.

Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and loans to States and local public bodies to increase the safety of public transportation through lighting, camera surveillance, security phones, or other projects. Sets the Federal share of each project at 90 percent of the net cost.

Directs the Secretary to provide grants and loans to study ways to reduce violent crimes against women in public transit through better design or operation of public transit systems.

Amends the National Park System Improvements in Administration Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to reduce violent crime in the National Park System (NPS). Provides for compilation of a list of areas within the NPS with the highest rates of violent crime. Allows funds to be used, around public parks and recreation areas, for increasing lighting, providing emergency phone lines, increasing security or law enforcement personnel, and any other project to increase security and safety.

Amends the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide grants for capital improvements and other measures to increase safety in public parks and recreation areas.

Subtitle D: National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women - Establishes the National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women to promote a national policy on violent crime against women and to make recommendations on reducing such crime. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission after submission of its final report, subject to extension by the President for up to one more year.

Subtitle E: New Evidentiary Rules - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to exclude, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in criminal cases other than a sex offense case, reputation or opinion evidence of the past sexual behavior of a victim from admission into evidence. Allows other types of evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice.

Makes reputation or opinion evidence of the plaintiff's past sexual behavior, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, inadmissible in a civil action involving allegations of actionable sexual misconduct. Makes other types of evidence of a plaintiff's past sexual behavior admissible in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. Defines actionable sexual misconduct to include sexual harassment or discrimination claims under title VII (Equal Employment Opportunity) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and gender bias claims under title III of this Act.

Makes evidentiary rulings made under specified Federal Rules of Evidence relating to sex offense cases and the relevance of a victim's past behavior subject to interlocutory appeal by the Government or by the alleged victim. Allows the alleged victim to waive those rules if the prosecution seeks to offer evidence of prior sexual history.

Makes evidence of an alleged victim's clothing, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in a criminal case under Federal laws relating to sexual abuse, inadmissible to show that the victim incited or invited the offense.

Subtitle F: Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow States to use amounts transferred by the State under block grant provisions for rape prevention and education programs conducted by rape crisis centers or similar nongovernmental nonprofit entities. Authorizes appropriations.

Requires grant recipients under this title to incur the full cost of forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault.

Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to private, nonprofit agencies for street-based outreach and education for female runaway, homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to or are at risk of being subjected to sexual abuse. Authorizes appropriations.

Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to provide for a victim's right to make a statement at the sentencing of a criminal defendant in cases involving a crime of violence or sexual abuse.

Title II: Safe Homes for Women - Safe Homes for Women Act of 1990 - Subtitle A: Interstate Enforcement - Provides for a Federal term of imprisonment or fine, in addition to any State penalties, for any person who: (1) in the course of or as a result of travelling across State lines injures his or her spouse or intimate partner (partner); (2) crosses State lines for the purpose of harassing, intimidating, or injuring a partner and who injures such partner; (3) causes a partner to cross State lines by force, coercion, duress, or fraud and who injures such partner; or (4) commits such acts in violation of a valid protection order issued by a State.

Provides for temporary protection orders while a case under these provisions is pending.

Mandates that a court order restitution to the victim of an offense under this Act.

Requires, provided certain conditions are met, that a protection order issued by the court of one State be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State. Makes a protection order issued against a person who filed a written pleading for protection not entitled to full faith and credit if no cross or counter petition, complaint, or other written pleading was filed seeking such a protection order or, if a cross or counter petition was filed, the court did not specifically find each party entitled to such an order.

Subtitle B: Arrest in Spousal Abuse Cases - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to authorize the Secretary of HHS to make grants, with regard to spousal abuse, to: (1) implement pro-arrest programs and policies in police departments and improve case tracking; (2) centralize and coordinate police enforcement, prosecution, or judicial responsibility for cases in one group of officers, prosecutors, or judges; and (3) educate judges to improve judicial handling of cases. Directs the Secretary to delegate to the Attorney General responsibility to carry out these provisions. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle C: Funding for Shelters - Amends the FVPSA to authorize appropriations to carry out that Act, earmarking at least 80 percent of funds appropriated for State demonstration grants to prevent family violence and provide immediate shelter and related assistance. Limits the percentages which may be used to carry out public information campaigns and for technical assistance centers under provisions of subtitle D of this title.

Subtitle D: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Amendments - Allows demonstration grants to be used to increase public awareness about, as well as to prevent, family violence. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for public information campaigns regarding domestic violence. Increases the maximum amount of grants receivable from $50,000 to $500,000. Directs (currently, authorizes) the Secretary to make no less than ten percent of funds authorized under the FVPSA (currently, no specified percentage) available for demonstration grants to Indian tribes. Removes the limit on the aggregate amount of grants to any single entity. Revises requirements regarding the local share of program costs for grants to entities other than States or Indian tribes. Increases the percentage of funds required to be used for shelter and related assistance for victims of family violence and their dependents.

Directs the Secretary to make grants to at least ten States to assist in becoming model demonstration States and in improving State leadership concerning: (1) increasing prosecutions for domestic crimes; (2) encouraging reporting of domestic violence; (3) facilitating arrests and aggressive prosecution policies; and (4) providing court advocacy for victims of domestic violence. Sets forth requirements for being designated a model State. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to delegate responsibilities under these provisions to the Attorney General.

Directs the Secretary to make grants or contracts for the establishment and maintenance of one national and six special-issue resource centers, with the latter to provide information, training, and technical assistance to State, Indian tribal, and local domestic violence service providers.

Subtitle E: Youth Education and Domestic Violence - Directs the Secretary of Education to select, implement, and evaluate separate model programs for education of young people about domestic violence and violence among intimate partners, with one program for each of primary, middle, and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle F: Confidentiality for Abused Persons - Requires the Postmaster General to promulgate regulations to secure the confidentiality of abused persons' addresses.

Subtitle G: Domestic Violence Coalitions - Amends the FVPSA to direct the Secretary of HHS to provide grants to fund eligible State domestic violence coalitions to enable such coalitions to conduct domestic violence intervention and prevention activities. Authorizes appropriations.

Title III: Civil Rights - Declares that all persons within the United States shall have the same rights, privileges, and immunities to be free from crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender (defined as any crime of violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact, or any other crime of violence committed because of or on the basis of gender). Makes any person, including a person who acts under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State, who deprives another of the rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Constitution and laws as enumerated by this Act liable to the injured party in an action for compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, or other relief as the court deems appropriate.

Amends the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 to allow the awarding of attorney's fees in actions to enforce this title.

Expresses the sense of the Senate that news media, law enforcement officers, and other persons should exercise restraint, and respect a rape victim's privacy by not disclosing the victim's identity to the general public or facilitating such disclosure without the victim's consent.

Title IV: Safe Campuses for Women - Safe Campuses for Women Act of 1990 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to make, on a competitive basis, grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education for rape education and prevention programs. Requires that the grants be used to educate and provide support services to student victims of rape or sexual assault, with 25 percent of the funds available for model demonstration programs for rape prevention and education curricula and for local programs to provide services to student rape victims.

Authorizes appropriations to carry out title X (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) of the Act.

Amends the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 to add sexual assault to the list of criminal offenses about which statistics must be disclosed by institutions participating in certain programs.

Title V: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1990 - Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in State Courts - Authorizes the State Justice Institute to make grants for model programs to be used by States in training judges and court personnel in State laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender.

Authorizes appropriations. Requires the State Justice Institute to expend at least: (1) 40 percent of appropriated funds on programs regarding domestic violence; and (2) 40 percent on programs regarding rape and assault.

Subtitle B: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts - Encourages the circuit judicial councils to conduct studies of any instances of gender bias in legal proceedings in their respective circuits.

Directs: (1) the Judicial Conference of the United States to designate an entity within the judicial branch to act as a clearinghouse to disseminate any reports and materials issued by the gender bias task forces under this subtitle; and (2) such task forces to provide such entity with their reports and related material.

Authorizes the Federal Judicial Center to include in its educational and training programs information on issues related to gender bias in the courts.

Authorizes appropriations.

Directs the Judicial Conference to allocate funds (as specified) to Federal circuit courts that: (1) undertake studies under this subtitle in their circuits; or (2) implement reforms recommended as a result of such studies in their own or other circuits, including education and training.