18 U.S.C. § 249 — Hate crime acts

Page 99 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 249 (Added Pub. L. 103–259, § 3, May 26, 1994, 108 Stat. 694; amended Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330023(a)(2), (3), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2150.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1994—Pub. L. 103–322, § 330023(a)(2), amended section catchline generally. Prior to amendment, catchline read as follows: ‘‘§ 248 Freedom of Access to Clinic En- trances.’’ Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–322, § 330023(a)(3), in con- cluding provisions, inserted ‘‘, notwithstanding section 3571,’’ before ‘‘be not more than $25,000’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1994 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330023(b), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2150, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of enactment of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 [May 26, 1994].’’ EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 103–259, § 6, May 26, 1994, 108 Stat. 697, provided that: ‘‘This Act [see Short Title note below] takes ef- fect on the date of the enactment of this Act [May 26, 1994], and shall apply only with respect to conduct oc- curring on or after such date.’’ SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 103–259, § 1, May 26, 1994, 108 Stat. 694, provided that: ‘‘This Act [enacting this section and provisions set out as notes under this section] may be cited as the ‘Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994’.’’ SEVERABILITY OF PROVISIONS Pub. L. 103–259, § 5, May 26, 1994, 108 Stat. 697, provided that: ‘‘If any provision of this Act [see Short Title note above], an amendment made by this Act, or the appli- cation of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the re- mainder of this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provisions of such to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.’’ CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Pub. L. 103–259, § 2, May 26, 1994, 108 Stat. 694, provided that: ‘‘Pursuant to the affirmative power of Congress to enact this legislation under section 8 of article I of the Constitution, as well as under section 5 of the four- teenth amendment to the Constitution, it is the pur- pose of this Act [see Short Title note above] to protect and promote the public safety and health and activities affecting interstate commerce by establishing Federal criminal penalties and civil remedies for certain vio- lent, threatening, obstructive and destructive conduct that is intended to injure, intimidate or interfere with persons seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services.’’ § 249. Hate crime acts (a) IN GENERAL.— (1) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PER- CEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL OR- IGIN.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a fire- arm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily in- jury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national ori- gin of any person— (A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and (B) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if— (i) death results from the offense; or (ii) the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill. (2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PER- CEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DIS- ABILITY.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any cir- cumstance described in subparagraph (B) or paragraph (3), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bod- ily injury to any person, because of the ac- tual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person— (i) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and (ii) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if— (I) death results from the offense; or (II) the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggra- vated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill. (B) CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED.—For pur- poses of subparagraph (A), the cir- cumstances described in this subparagraph are that— (i) the conduct described in subpara- graph (A) occurs during the course of, or as the result of, the travel of the defendant or the victim— (I) across a State line or national bor- der; or (II) using a channel, facility, or instru- mentality of interstate or foreign com- merce; (ii) the defendant uses a channel, facil- ity, or instrumentality of interstate or for- eign commerce in connection with the con- duct described in subparagraph (A); (iii) in connection with the conduct de- scribed in subparagraph (A), the defendant employs a firearm, dangerous weapon, ex- plosive or incendiary device, or other weapon that has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce; or (iv) the conduct described in subpara- graph (A)— (I) interferes with commercial or other economic activity in which the victim is engaged at the time of the conduct; or (II) otherwise affects interstate or for- eign commerce. (3) OFFENSES OCCURRING IN THE SPECIAL MARI- TIME OR TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION OF THE Page 100 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 250 UNITED STATES.—Whoever, within the special maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the United States, engages in conduct described in paragraph (1) or in paragraph (2)(A) (without regard to whether that conduct occurred in a circumstance described in paragraph (2)(B)) shall be subject to the same penalties as pre- scribed in those paragraphs. (4) GUIDELINES.—All prosecutions conducted by the United States under this section shall be undertaken pursuant to guidelines issued by the Attorney General, or the designee of the Attorney General, to be included in the United States Attorneys’ Manual that shall establish neutral and objective criteria for de- termining whether a crime was committed be- cause of the actual or perceived status of any person. (5) LYNCHING.—Whoever conspires to commit any offense under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) shall, if death or serious bodily injury (as de- fined in section 2246 of this title) results from the offense, be imprisoned for not more than 30 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both. (6) OTHER CONSPIRACIES.—Whoever conspires to commit any offense under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) shall, if death or serious bodily injury (as defined in section 2246 of this title) results from the offense, or if the offense includes kid- napping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggra- vated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, be imprisoned for not more than 30 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both. (b) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— (1) IN GENERAL.—No prosecution of any of- fense described in this subsection may be un- dertaken by the United States, except under the certification in writing of the Attorney General, or a designee, that— (A) the State does not have jurisdiction; (B) the State has requested that the Fed- eral Government assume jurisdiction; (C) the verdict or sentence obtained pursu- ant to State charges left demonstratively unvindicated the Federal interest in eradi- cating bias-motivated violence; or (D) a prosecution by the United States is in the public interest and necessary to se- cure substantial justice. (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit the au- thority of Federal officers, or a Federal grand jury, to investigate possible violations of this section. (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— (1) the term ‘‘bodily injury’’ has the meaning given such term in section 1365(h)(4) of this title, but does not include solely emotional or psychological harm to the victim; (2) the term ‘‘explosive or incendiary device’’ has the meaning given such term in section 232 of this title; (3) the term ‘‘firearm’’ has the meaning given such term in section 921(a) of this title; (4) the term ‘‘gender identity’’ means actual or perceived gender-related characteristics; and (5) the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any other terri- tory or possession of the United States. (d) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— (1) OFFENSES NOT RESULTING IN DEATH.—Ex- cept as provided in paragraph (2), no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any offense under this section unless the indict- ment for such offense is found, or the informa- tion for such offense is instituted, not later than 7 years after the date on which the of- fense was committed. (2) DEATH RESULTING OFFENSES.—An indict- ment or information alleging that an offense under this section resulted in death may be found or instituted at any time without limi- tation. (e) SUPERVISED RELEASE.—If a court includes, as a part of a sentence of imprisonment imposed for a violation of subsection (a), a requirement that the defendant be placed on a term of super- vised release after imprisonment under section 3583, the court may order, as an explicit condi- tion of supervised release, that the defendant undertake educational classes or community service directly related to the community harmed by the defendant’s offense. (Added and amended Pub. L. 111–84, div. E, §§ 4707(a), 4711, Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2838, 2842; Pub. L. 117–13, § 5(h), May 20, 2021, 135 Stat. 272; Pub. L. 117–107, § 2, Mar. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 1125.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2022—Subsec. (a)(5), (6). Pub. L. 117–107 added pars. (5) and (6). 2021—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 117–13 added subsec. (e). 2009—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 111–84, § 4711, added par. (4). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SEVERABILITY Pub. L. 111–84, div. E, § 4709, Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2841, which related to severability of provisions, was editorially reclassified as section 30505 of Title 34, Crime Control and Law Enforcement. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION Pub. L. 111–84, div. E, § 4710, Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2841, which related to construction, was editorially re- classified as section 30506 of Title 34, Crime Control and Law Enforcement. FINDINGS Pub. L. 111–84, div. E, § 4702, Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2835, which set out Congressional findings related to hate crimes, was editorially reclassified as section 30501 of Title 34, Crime Control and Law Enforcement. § 250. Penalties for civil rights offenses involving sexual misconduct (a) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any per- son to, in the course of committing an offense under this chapter or under section 901 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3631), engage in, or cause another to engage in, sexual misconduct. (b) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates sub- section (a) shall be— (1) in the case of an offense involving aggra- vated sexual abuse, as defined in section 2241,