legislation: 102-s-3292
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| bill_id | congress | bill_type | bill_number | title | policy_area | introduced_date | latest_action_date | latest_action_text | origin_chamber | sponsor_name | sponsor_state | sponsor_party | sponsor_bioguide_id | cosponsor_count | summary_text | update_date | url |
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| 102-s-3292 | 102 | s | 3292 | A bill to establish the death penalty for certain violent crimes and provide procedures for its imposition, provide for habeas corpus reform, and codify the "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule. | Crime and Law Enforcement | 1992-10-01 | 1992-10-01 | Read twice and referred to the Committee on Judiciary. | Senate | Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT] | UT | R | H000338 | 0 | Title I: Death Penalty under Federal Law - Federal Death Penalty Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criteria for the imposition of the death penalty for Federal crimes. Requires the Government, for any offense punishable by death, to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea, or at such time thereafter as the court may permit upon a showing of good cause, that it intends to seek the death penalty and the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury, or the court upon motion by the defendant (with the approval of the attorney for the Government), when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense punishable by death. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing. Specifies mitigating factors which the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the information and aggravating factors which the Government must provide beyond a reasonable doubt. Sets forth special aggravating factors for: (1) treason, espionage, homicide, and the attempted murder of the President; and (2) drug offenses punishable by the death penalty (such factors include conviction for two felony drug offenses, conviction for serious Federal drug offenses, and participation in a continuing criminal enterprise involving drug sales to minors). Directs the court, or the jury by unanimous vote, to recommend whether a sentence of death shall be imposed rather than a lesser sentence based upon a consideration of whether all the aggravating factors sufficiently outweigh all mitigating factors (or, in the absence of a mitigating factor, whether the aggravating factors alone are sufficient to justify such sentence). Specifies that the jury or the court is never required to impose a death sentence. States that no person who was under 17 years of age at the time of the offense may be sentenced to death. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or victim in its consideration of the sentence. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the court of appeals to address all substantive and procedural issues raised on appeal and to consider whether the death sentence was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor and whether the evidence supports the special finding of the existence of an aggravating factor required to be considered. Directs the court to remand the case for reconsideration or imposition of a sentence other than death whenever it finds that: (1) the sentence was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor; (2) the admissible evidence and information adduced does not support the special finding of the existence of the required aggravating factor; or (3) the proceedings involved any other legal error requiring reversal of the sentence that was properly preserved for and raised on appeal. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination. Sets forth procedures for the implementation of a sentence of death. Prohibits a sentence of death from being carried out upon a person who is mentally retarded, who lacks the mental capacity to understand the death penalty and why it was imposed on that person, or upon a woman while she is pregnant. Prohibits requiring any employee of any State department of corrections, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service, or any employee providing services to that department, bureau, or service under contract to be in attendance or to participate in any execution if such participation is contrary to such employee's moral or religious convictions. Limits the circumstances under which a person subject to the criminal jurisdiction of an Indian tribal government may be executed under this Act. Provides for the imposition of the death penalty for specified Federal crimes, including: (1) murders committed by prisoners in Federal correctional institutions; (2) civil rights murders and certain murders involving damage to religious property or obstruction of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs; (3) murders through the use of a firearm, where a person causes the death of another intentionally, knowingly, through recklessness manifesting extreme indifference to human life, or through the intentional infliction of serious bodily injury; and (4) drug-related murders in the District of Columbia. Title II: Death Penalty or Life Imprisonment Without Parole for First Degree Murder in the District of Columbia - Amends the D.C. Code to authorize the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole for first-degree murders in the District of Columbia. Title III: Habeas Corpus Reform - Subtitle A: General Habeas Corpus Reform - Habeas Corpus Reform Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal judicial code to establish a one-year statute of limitations for habeas corpus actions brought by State prisoners. Vests authority to issue certificates for probable cause for appeal of habeas corpus orders exclusively in the courts of appeals. Permits denial on the merits of habeas corpus writs notwithstanding the failure to exhaust State remedies. Prohibits the granting of a petition for habeas corpus with respect to any claim which has been fully and fairly adjudicated in State proceedings. Sets forth provisions with respect to the appointment of counsel. Subtitle B: Death Penalty Litigation Procedures - Death Penalty Litigation Procedures Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal judicial code to set forth special habeas corpus procedures in capital cases. Applies such procedures to Federal habeas corpus cases brought by prisoners in State custody who are subject to a capital sentence. Makes the applicability of such procedures contingent upon a State establishing a mechanism for the appointment, compensation, and payment of reasonable litigation expenses of competent counsel in State post-conviction proceedings brought by indigent prisoners whose capital convictions and sentences have been upheld on direct appeal to the court of last resort in the State or have otherwise become final for State law purposes. States that the rule of court on statutes establishing such mechanism must provide standards of competency for the appointment of such counsel. Specifies that any such mechanism shall offer counsel to all State prisoners under capital sentence and provide for the entry of an order by a court of record that: (1) appoints counsel to represent the prisoner upon a specified finding; (2) finds that the prisoner has rejected the offer of counsel and made the decision with an understanding of its legal consequences; or (3) denies the appointment of counsel upon a finding that the prisoner is not indigent. Provides for a mandatory stay of execution during the post-conviction review initiated pursuant to this Act. Details conditions which will cause such stay to expire. Prohibits a Federal court, if one of such conditions has occurred, from entering a stay of execution or granting relief in a capital case unless: (1) the basis for the stay and request for relief is a claim not previously presented in the State or Federal courts; (2) the failure to raise the claim was the result of State action in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States, was the result of a recognition by the Supreme Court of a new Federal right that is retroactively applicable, or is due to the fact that the claim is based on facts that could not have been discovered through the exercise of reasonable diligence in time to present the claim for State or Federal post-conviction review; and (3) the facts underlying the claim would be sufficient, if proven, to undermine the court's confidence in the jury's determination of guilt of the offense for which the death penalty was imposed. Imposes time limits on filing for habeas corpus relief. Requires such time limits to be tolled under specified conditions. Requires the district court, upon the development of a complete evidentiary record, to rule on the merits of the claims properly before it. Makes the requirement for a certificate of probable cause inapplicable, with exceptions, where: (1) a second or successive petition is filed; and (2) certain requirements under a unitary review procedure (i.e., a State procedure that authorizes a person under sentence of death to raise, in the course of direct review of judgment, such claims as could be raised on collateral attack) are met. Sets forth time limits for determining petitions. Specifies that the adjudication of petitions or motions involving habeas corpus in capital cases shall be granted priority by the district court and court of appeals over all noncapital matters. Directs the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to report annually to the Congress on court compliance with the time limits established under this subtitle. Title IV: Exclusionary Rule - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that evidence obtained as a result of a search or seizure shall not be excluded in a court of the United States as being in violation of the fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution if such search or seizure was carried out in circumstances justifying an objectively reasonable belief that it was in conformity with the fourth amendment. Makes the fact that evidence was obtained pursuant to and within the scope of a warrant prima facie evidence of the existence of such circumstances. Specifies that Federal law does not require the exclusion of evidence in State court proceedings under circumstances in which such evidence would be admissible in a Federal court proceeding. | 2025-07-21T19:32:26Z |