Justice for Murder Victims Act
The Justice for Murder Victims Act would change federal homicide prosecutions by removing the time gap between the act that caused a death and the death itself from limiting whether the case can be prosecuted. In practical terms, prosecutors could bring federal homicide charges regardless of how long after the act the victim dies, subject to existing statutes of limitations. The bill also creates a time-based constraint for seeking the death penalty: the government would have to prove that the death occurred within 1 year and 1 day of the act to pursue the death penalty; if the death occurred later, the sentence could only be a term of years or life (not death). The changes apply only to acts occurring after the bill’s enactment and would affect first-degree murder sentencing accordingly.
Key Points
- 1Creates new Section 1123 in 18 U.S.C. Chapter 51 allowing prosecution for homicide without regard to the time between the act and the death, but does not override existing statutes of limitations under 18 U.S.C. § 3282(a) where applicable.
- 2imposes a death-penalty timing constraint: to seek the death penalty for a homicide, the government must prove the death occurred within 1 year and 1 day of the act; if the death occurred after that window, the punishment is limited to any term of years or life (not the death penalty).
- 3Applies prospectively to acts or omissions occurring after enactment.
- 4Amends 18 U.S.C. § 1111(b) (First-Degree Murder) to reflect the new timing rule, altering the maximum penalty based on whether the death followed within or beyond 1 year and 1 day.
- 5The bill adds the new section to the table of contents for Chapter 51 of Title 18.