From Overcriminalized.com:
Table of Contents
Updates:
•H.R. 5663: Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010
•H.R. 5626: Blowout Prevention Act of 2010
•H.R. 5566: Prevention of Interstate Commerce in Animal Crush Videos Act of 2010
•H.R. 4173: The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009
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H.R. 5663: Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010
Sponsor: Miller (D - CA)
Official Title: A bill to improve compliance with mine and occupational safety and health laws, empower workers to raise safety concerns, prevent future mine and other workplace tragedies, establish rights of families of victims of workplace accidents, and for other purposes.
Status:
7/1/2010: Introduced in House
7/1/2010: Referred to House Education and Labor Committee
7/13/2010: Hearing Held by House Education and Labor Committee
Commentary: Section 820(d) of Title 30, U.S. Code, currently prohibits “willfully” violating a mandatory mining health or safety standard or “knowingly” violating or refusing to comply with certain orders issued by the Secretary of Labor. This bill would significantly lower the protectiveness of the mental state required to prove a violation of a mandatory health and safety standard from “willfully” to “knowingly.” Violators are currently subject to imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of up to $250,000, or both on the first conviction, and imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine of $500,000, or both for subsequent violations. This bill would increase the penalty for first violations to imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine of $1,000,000, or both, and the penalty for subsequent violations to imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of $2,000,000, or both. Under 30 U.S.C. § 820(c), a director, officer, or agent of a corporate violator who “knowingly authorized, ordered, or carried out” the conduct leading to the violation is subject to prosecution to the same extent as the corporation. This provision will not necessarily be interpreted by the courts to require the government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the director, officer, or agent had any actual knowledge that what he or she authorized, ordered, or carried out was unlawful.
H.R. 5626: Blowout Prevention Act of 2010
Sponsor: Waxman (D - CA)
Official Title: A bill to protect public health and safety and the environment by requiring the use of safe well control technologies and practices for the drilling of high-risk oil and gas wells in the United States, and for other purposes.
Status:
6/29/2010: Introduced in House
6/29/2010: Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
7/15/2010: Mark up in the House Energy and Commerce Committee
7/15/2010: Ordered to be reported House
Commentary: This bill would, beginning one year after its enactment, require applicants for permits to drill for a “high-risk well” to attest to the capacity of their blowout prevention and remediation ability and call for the promulgation of regulations specifying the minimum standards for blowout preventers, third-party certifications, and documentation. Any person who “knowingly and willfully” violates any provision of the act or any regulation that implements it, makes a false statement in a document that is filed or required to be filed, or falsifies or tampers with a required monitoring device will be subject to imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of up to $10 million, or both. Under the bill, an officer or agent of a corporation that is subject to prosecution who “knowingly and willfully, or with willful disregard” orders or carries out the prohibited activity is subject to prosecution to the same extent as the corporation. This provision will not necessarily be interpreted by the courts to require the officer or agent to have actual knowledge that what he or she authorized, ordered, or carried out was unlawful.
H.R. 5566: Prevention of Interstate Commerce in Animal Crush Videos Act of 2010
Sponsor: Gallegly (D - CA)
Official Title: A bill to amend Title 18, United States Code, to prohibit interstate commerce in animal crush videos, and for other purposes.
Status:
6/22/2010: Introduced in House
6/22/2010: Referred to House Judiciary Committee
6/23/2010: Mark up in the House Judiciary Committee
6/23/2010: Ordered to be reported
7/19/2010: Reported to House
Commentary: This bill replaces H.R. 5092 and is a response to the U. S. Supreme Court’s April 2010 decision in United States v. Stevens, in which the Court found that 18 U.S.C. § 48, which prohibits the commercial creation, sale, or possession of certain depictions of animal cruelty, violated the First Amendment because it was substantially overbroad. The Court noted, among other things, that the reach of § 48 was so broad that it would include depictions of hunting activities. Because the statute applied to depicted conduct that was illegal in any state where the depiction was created, sold, or possessed, the Court also observed that a “depiction of entirely lawful conduct runs afoul of the ban if that depiction finds its way into another State where the same conduct is illegal.” This bill would prohibit the knowing sale or distribution in interstate or foreign commerce of “animal crush videos” and create safe harbors for depictions of veterinary or animal husbandry practices and depictions of hunting, trapping, or fishing. It would apply to depictions of actual conduct that violate a criminal prohibition on cruelty to animals under Federal law “or the law of the State in which the depiction is created, sold, distributed, or offered for sale or distribution.”
H.R. 4173: The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009
Sponsor: Frank (D - MA)
Official Title: To provide for financial regulatory reform, to protect consumers and investors, to enhance Federal understanding of insurance issues, to regulate the over-the-counter derivatives markets, and for other purposes.
Status:
12/2/2009: Introduced
12/2/2009: Referred to House Financial Services Committee
12/2/2009: Referred to House Agriculture Committee
12/2/2009: Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
12/2/2009: Referred to House Judiciary Committee
12/2/2009: Referred to House Rules Committee
12/2/2009: Referred to House Budget Committee
12/2/2009: Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
12/2/2009: Referred to House Ways and Means Committee
12/11/2009: House Passage
1/20/2010: Received in Senate
1/20/2010: Referred to Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee
5/20/2010: Discharged Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee
5/24/2010: Senate Passage
6/30/2010: Conference report passed in the House
7/15/2010: Conference report passed in the Senate
7/21/2010: Signed by the President
Commentary: This wide-ranging financial markets regulatory bill would, among many other things, establish a Financial Services Oversight Council including the heads of the Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Housing Finance Agency, and National Credit Union Administration Board. The stated purposes for the Council include monitoring financial markets, advising Congress of financial regulatory developments, and coordinating financial regulatory actions among member agencies. The bill provides for the establishment of a regulatory regime that will cover transactions in derivatives and give oversight responsibility to the CFTC, requiring the registration of traders and trading activities. Section 13(a)(5) of Title 7, U.S. Code, governs the trading of commodity futures and other instruments regulated by the CFTC. It provides that “[a]ny person” who “willfully” violates “any other provision of this chapter, or any rule or regulation thereunder” will be subject to imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of $1 million, or both, plus the costs of prosecution. Section 13(a)(5) further provides, “[N]o person shall be subject to imprisonment under this paragraph for the violation of any rule or regulation if such person proves that he had no knowledge of such rule or regulation.” Where the transaction involves securities-based derivative instruments, responsibility for regulatory oversight is vested in the SEC. Section78ff of Title 15, U.S. Code, specifies the penalties for violating the securities laws. [Editor's Note: The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' far more thorough description and analysis of the many criminal provisions in this wide-ranging bill is available at http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/whitecollar/HR4173].
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