[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2991 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2991
To amend title 18, United States Code, to expand the prohibition on
stalking, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 27, 2000
Mr. Abraham 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 expand the prohibition on
stalking, 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 ``Just Punishment for Cyberstalkers
Act of 2000''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF INSTRUMENTALITIES OF INTERSTATE OF
FOREIGN COMMERCE FOR CYBERSTALKING.
(a) Interstate Stalking.--Section 2261A of title 18, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 2261A. Interstate stalking
``Whoever--
``(1) travels across a State line or within the special
maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States with
the intent to injure or harass another person, and in the
course of, or as a result of, such travel places that person in
reasonable fear of the death of, or serious bodily injury (as
defined in section 2119(2)) to, that person or a member of the
immediate family (as defined in section 115) of that person; or
``(2) with the intent to kill or injure a person in another
State or to place a person in another State in reasonable fear
of death or serious bodily injury (as defined in section
2119(2)), uses or causes another to use the mail or any
facility of interstate or foreign commerce to engage in a
course of conduct that places that person in reasonable fear of
the death of, or serious bodily injury to--
``(A) that person;
``(B) a member of the immediate family (as defined
in section 115) of that person; or
``(C) a spouse or intimate partner of that person;
shall be punished as provided in section 2261(b).''.
(b) Definition.--Section 2266 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended, in the fourth undesignated paragraph, by striking
subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following:
``(A)(i) for purposes of sections other than 2261A, a
spouse, a former spouse, a person who shares a child in common
with the abuser, and a person who cohabits or has cohabited
with the abuser as a spouse; and
``(ii) for purposes of section 2261A, a spouse or a former
spouse of the target of the stalking, a person who shares a
child in common with the target of the stalking, and a person
who cohabits or has cohabited with the target of the stalking;
and
``(B) any person similarly situated to a spouse who is
protected by the domestic or family violence laws of the State
in which the injury occurred or where the victim resides.''.
(c) Amendment of Federal Sentencing Guidelines.--
(1) In general.--Pursuant to its authority under section
994 of title 28, United States Code, the United States
Sentencing Commission shall amend the Federal Sentencing
Guidelines to reflect the amendments made by this section.
(2) Factors for consideration.--In carrying out paragraph
(1), the Commission shall consider--
(A) whether the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
relating to stalking offenses should be modified to
ensure that, if a stalking offense involves conduct
that would be covered by another Federal Sentencing
Guideline (relating to Offenses Against the Person) if
the conduct occurred within the special maritime and
territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and the
application of such other Guideline to the conduct
would result in a greater offense level, such other
Guideline is applied to the conduct, regardless of
whether the conduct occurred within the special
maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United
States;
(B) whether the single 2-level enhancement for a
pattern of stalking, combined with the suggestion in
the commentary of an upward departure for egregious
cases, adequately captures gradations of intensity and
seriousness of stalking, or whether the Federal
Sentencing Guidelines should be modified to contain a
more precise directive keyed to the number, frequency,
severity, or acceleration in intensity or severity of
incidents of stalking; and
(C) whether the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
should be modified to provide that a stalker who both
threatens and attacks a victim is punished for both
actions.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line