Text of US SB 2279 (2023)

II 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. FEIN- STEIN, 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘LGBTQ+ Panic De- 4 fense Prohibition Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2279.IS S2279 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2279 IS (1) the American Bar Association has urged the 1 Federal Government to take legislative action to cur- 2 tail the availability and effectiveness of legal de- 3 fenses that seek to partially or completely excuse 4 crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds 5 that the sexual orientation or gender identity or ex- 6 pression of the victim was provocation enough for 7 the violent reaction of the defendant; 8 (2) panic defenses based on sexual orientation 9 or gender identity or expression, which continue to 10 be raised in criminal proceedings in Federal courts 11 across the United States, are surprisingly long-lived 12 historical artifacts, remnants of a time when wide- 13 spread public antipathy was the norm for lesbian, 14 gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to in 15 this Act as ‘‘LGBTQ’’) individuals; 16 (3) panic defenses based on sexual orientation 17 or gender identity or expression characterize sexual 18 orientation and gender identity or expression as ob- 19 jectively reasonable excuses for loss of self-control, 20 and thereby illegitimately mitigate the responsibility 21 of a perpetrator for harm done to LGBTQ individ- 22 uals; 23 (4) panic defenses based on sexual orientation 24 or gender identity or expression appeal to irrational 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2279.IS S2279 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2279 IS fears and hatred of LGBTQ individuals, thereby un- 1 dermining the legitimacy of Federal criminal pros- 2 ecutions and resulting in unjustifiable acquittals or 3 sentencing reductions; 4 (5) the use of panic defenses based on sexual 5 orientation or gender identity or expression is en- 6 tirely incompatible with the express intent of Fed- 7 eral law to provide increased protection to victims of 8 bias-motivated crimes, including crimes committed 9 against LGBTQ individuals; 10 (6) continued use of these anachronistic de- 11 fenses reinforces and institutionalizes prejudice at 12 the expense of norms of self-control, tolerance, and 13 compassion, which the law should encourage, and 14 marks an egregious lapse in the march of the United 15 States toward a more just criminal justice system; 16 and 17 (7) to end the antiquated notion that LGBTQ 18 lives are worth less than others and to reflect mod- 19 ern understanding of LGBTQ individuals as equal 20 citizens under law, panic defenses based on sexual 21 orientation or gender identity or expression must 22 end. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2279.IS S2279 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2279 IS SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PANIC DEFENSES BASED ON SEX- 1 UAL ORIENTATION OR GENDER IDENTITY OR 2 EXPRESSION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 18, United 4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘§ 28. Prohibition on panic defenses based on sexual 7 orientation or gender identity or expres- 8 sion 9 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—No nonviolent sexual advance or 10 perception or belief, even if inaccurate, of the gender, gen- 11 der identity or expression, or sexual orientation of an indi- 12 vidual may be used to excuse or justify the conduct of an 13 individual or mitigate the severity of an offense. 14 ‘‘(b) PAST TRAUMA.—Notwithstanding the prohibi- 15 tion in subsection (a), a court may admit evidence, in ac- 16 cordance with the Federal Rules of Evidence, of prior 17 trauma to the defendant for the purpose of excusing or 18 justifying the conduct of the defendant or mitigating the 19 severity of an offense.’’. 20 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 21 The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 18, United 22 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 23 lowing: 24 ‘‘28. Prohibition on panic defenses based on sexual orientation or gender iden- tity or expression.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2279.IS S2279 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2279 IS (c) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall submit to 1 Congress an annual report that details prosecutions in 2 Federal court involving capital and noncapital crimes com- 3 mitted against LGBTQ individuals that were motivated by 4 the victim’s gender, gender identity or expression, or sex- 5 ual orientation. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2279.IS S2279 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS