18 U.S.C. § 49 — Enforcement of animal fighting prohibitions

Page 33 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 81 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the provi- sion and the application of the provision to other per- sons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.’’ FINDINGS Pub. L. 111–294, § 2, Dec. 9, 2010, 124 Stat. 3177, provided that: ‘‘The Congress finds the following: ‘‘(1) The United States has a long history of prohib- iting the interstate sale, marketing, advertising, ex- change, 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 ani- mal cruelty, such as the intentional crushing, burn- ing, drowning, suffocating, or impaling of animals for no socially redeeming purpose. ‘‘(4) There are certain extreme acts of animal cru- elty that appeal to a specific sexual fetish. These acts of extreme animal cruelty are videotaped, and the re- sulting video tapes are commonly referred to as ‘ani- mal 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 Con- stitution of the United States. ‘‘(6) In the judgment of Congress, many animal crush videos are obscene in the sense that the depic- tions, 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 cru- elty 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 in- trinsically related and integral to creating an incen- tive for, directly causing, and perpetuating demand for the serious acts of extreme animal cruelty the videos depict. The primary reason for those criminal acts is the creation, sale, distribution, advertising, marketing, and exchange of the animal crush video image. ‘‘(9) The serious acts of extreme animal cruelty nec- essary to make animal crush videos are committed in a clandestine manner that— ‘‘(A) allows the perpetrators of such crimes to re- main anonymous; ‘‘(B) makes it extraordinarily difficult to estab- lish 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.’’ § 49. Enforcement of animal fighting prohibitions (a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever violates subsection (a)(1), (b), (c), or (d) of section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act shall be fined under this title, im- prisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, for each violation. (b) ATTENDING AN ANIMAL FIGHTING VEN- TURE.—Whoever violates subsection (a)(2)(A) of section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2156) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both, for each viola- tion. (c) CAUSING AN INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS NOT AT- TAINED THE AGE OF 16 TO ATTEND AN ANIMAL FIGHTING VENTURE.—Whoever violates sub- section (a)(2)(B) of section 26 (7 U.S.C. 2156) of the Animal Welfare Act shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or both, for each violation. (Added Pub. L. 110–22, § 2(a), May 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 88; amended Pub. L. 110–234, title XIV, § 14207(b), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1462; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title XIV, § 14207(b), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2224; Pub. L. 113–79, title XII, § 12308(b)(2), Feb. 7, 2014, 128 Stat. 991; Pub. L. 115–334, title XII, § 12616(d), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 5016.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act, referred to in text, is section 2156 of Title 7, Agriculture. CODIFICATION Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical amendments to this section. The amendments by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246. AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–334 substituted ‘‘(d)’’ for ‘‘(e)’’. 2014—Pub. L. 113–79 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, substituted ‘‘subsection (a)(1),’’ for ‘‘subsection (a),’’, and added subsecs. (b) and (c). 2008—Pub. L. 110–246, § 14207(b), substituted ‘‘5 years’’ for ‘‘3 years’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2018 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 115–334 effective on the date that is one year after Dec. 20, 2018, see section 12616(e) of Pub. L. 115–334, set out as a note under section 2156 of Title 7, Agriculture. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2008 AMENDMENT Amendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an Effective Date note under section 8701 of Title 7, Agriculture. CHAPTER 5—ARSON Sec. 81. Arson within special maritime and territorial jurisdiction. § 81. Arson within special maritime and terri- torial jurisdiction Whoever, within the special maritime and ter- ritorial jurisdiction of the United States, will- fully and maliciously sets fire to or burns any building, structure or vessel, any machinery or building materials or supplies, military or naval stores, munitions of war, or any structural aids or appliances for navigation or shipping, or at- tempts or conspires to do such an act, shall be imprisoned for not more than 25 years, fined the greater of the fine under this title or the cost of repairing or replacing any property that is dam- aged or destroyed, or both. If the building be a dwelling or if the life of any person be placed in jeopardy, he shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both.