“To provide for an enhanced penalty for an act of violent insurrection.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section sets forth congressional findings on the governmental interest in protecting democratic institutions, governmental functions, and public safety; prior attacks undermining the constitutional order; the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as an unprecedented assault on democratic institutions; and the necessity of recidivist enhancements for actual or attempted insurrection and associated conduct to reflect offense seriousness, deter future attacks, and incapacitate offenders.
This section defines two terms for purposes of this Act. "Violent insurrection" means any person who (1) unlawfully entered the U.S. Capitol, White House, or Supreme Court building or grounds in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1361 (willful injury to U.S. property) or 1752 or 40 U.S.C. § 5104, and (i) engaged in or threatened violence against any person on those grounds in response to actual or perceived election results or activities, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 111 or 372 or 40 U.S.C. § 5104; (ii) obstructed, influenced, or impeded an official proceeding related to electoral vote certification or an election, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c) or (k) or 40 U.S.C. § 5104; or (iii) damaged or destroyed property on those grounds in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1361 or 40 U.S.C. § 5104 and in response to actual or perceived election results or activities; (2) attempted to commit any such acts; or (3) conspired to commit any such acts. "Act of prior violent insurrection" means a prior conviction for conduct constituting a violent insurrection, without regard to whether the conviction was pardoned or set aside.
This section establishes recidivist sentence enhancements for defendants convicted of an act of violent insurrection (as defined in section 3) who have a prior such act, with the instant federal crime committed after the effective date of this Act. It authorizes (1) a general additional term of imprisonment of up to 4 years; (2) an additional 5 years if the underlying federal crime is punishable by 10 or more years of imprisonment; or (3) an additional 10 years if the underlying federal crime involves violence or threatened violence against a federal official or employee (18 U.S.C. §§ 111, 372), damage to federal property (18 U.S.C. § 1361), obstruction of a federal proceeding (18 U.S.C. § 1512(c), (k)), or specified crimes on federal property (18 U.S.C. § 1361; 40 U.S.C. § 5104). It further authorizes life imprisonment with a minimum mandatory term of 15 years for any person with a pattern of anti-democratic conduct convicted of treason (18 U.S.C. § 2381), seditious conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 2384), advocating overthrow of the government (18 U.S.C. § 2385), murder of a federal official (18 U.S.C. § 1114), rebellion or insurrection (18 U.S.C. § 2383), or assassination or assault on the President (18 U.S.C. § 1751).
This section states that nothing in the Act may be construed to deny or limit any individual's constitutional rights and preserves the right of any person sentenced under the Act to appeal both the underlying conviction and the enhanced penalty.
This section specifies that, for purposes of enhanced recidivist penalties under section 4, a Presidential pardon for conduct constituting a pattern of anti-democratic conduct under this Act does not preclude those penalties for future federal crimes unless the pardon is based on the individual's innocence or a reversible legal error that fundamentally changed the outcome of justice.