Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Overcriminalized.com Legislative Update

From Overcriminalized.com:

Table of Contents




New:



S. 3941: Combating Military Counterfeits Act of 2010

S. 3962: Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2010

S. 3963: Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2010

S. Amendment 4695:

Updates:



S. 2859: Coral Reef Conservation Amendments Act of 2009



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S. 3941: Combating Military Counterfeits Act of 2010



Sponsor: Whitehouse (D - RI)



Official Title: A bill to prohibit trafficking in counterfeit military goods or services.



Status:

11/15/2010: Introduced in Senate

11/15/2010: Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee



Commentary: This bill seeks to increase the criminal penalties under Title 18 U.S.C. § 2320 for individuals or entities who traffic in counterfeit military goods or services. Under existing law, individuals convicted under § 2320 are subject to up to 10 years imprisonment and fines of up to $2,000,000 for a first offense, and up to 20 years imprisonment and fines of up to $5,000,000 for each subsequent offense. Under existing law, entities are subject to fines of up to $5,000,000 and $15,000,000, respectively, for initial and subsequent § 2320 violations. S. 3941 would significantly raise these penalties for both persons and non-persons. S. 3941 would punish initial individual violations of § 2320 with up to 20 years imprisonment and fines of up to $5,000,000. Fines for initial entity violations would be raised from a $5,000,000 to a $15,000,000 maximum under the bill. S. 3941 would punish subsequent individual violations of § 2320 with up to 30 years imprisonment and fines of up to $15,000,000. Fines for subsequent entity violations would be raised from a $15,000,000 to a $30,000,000 maximum under the bill. S. 3941 also asks the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amend the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted under § 2320 to "reflect the intent of Congress that penalties for such offenses be increased."





S. 3962: Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2010



Sponsor: Durbin (D - IL)



Official Title: A bill to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children and for other purposes.



Status:

11/17/2010: Introduced in Senate

11/18/2010: Placed on Senate calendar



Commentary: This bill is a modified version of the DREAM Act, S. 729, which would grant legal status to some illegal aliens who attend college in the United States or serve in a branch of the U.S. armed forces. This version of the Act would grant its benefits to persons who are under 35 years of age at the time of legislative passage. Unlike S. 729, however, S. 3962 contains no language that would restore the ability of illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition benefits. This iteration of the Act makes no changes to the criminal penalties for false statements announced in S. 729. The bill imparts criminal penalties on anyone who files an application for relief under the Act who "willfully or knowingly falsifies, misrepresents, or conceals a material fact or makes any false or fraudulent statement or representation" in conjunction with their application. Violations of this provision are punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment, fines in accordance with Title 18 of the U.S. Code, or both. This new criminal offense would be duplicative of, and uses substantially similar language to, the general federal "false statements" statute (18 U.S.C. § 1001).





S. 3963: Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2010



Sponsor: Durbin (D - IL)



Official Title: A bill to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children and for other purposes.



Status:

11/17/2010: Introduced in Senate

11/18/2010: Placed on Senate calendar



Commentary: This bill is another modified version of the DREAM Act, S. 729, which would grant legal status to some illegal aliens who attend college in the United States or serve in a branch of the U.S. armed forces. Unlike S. 3962, however, S. 3963 would grant its benefits only to those persons who are under 30 years of age at the time of legislative passage. This most-recent edition of the Act also contains no language that would restore the ability of illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition benefits. It likewise makes no changes to the criminal penalties for false statements announced in S. 729. The bill imparts criminal penalties on anyone who files an application for relief under the Act who "willfully or knowingly falsifies, misrepresents, or conceals a material fact or makes any false or fraudulent statement or representation" in conjunction with their application. Violations of this provision are punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment, fines in accordance with Title 18 of the U.S. Code, or both. This new criminal offense would be duplicative of, and uses substantially similar language to, the general federal "false statements" statute (18 U.S.C. § 1001).





S. Amendment 4695:



Sponsor: Bond (R - MO)



Official Title:



Status:

11/17/2010: Introduced in Senate



Commentary: This amendment was offered to S. 3538, the National Cyber Infrastructure Protection Act of 2010. Much like S. 3538, this amendment would provide for the establishment of a National Cyber Center in the Department of Defense and would make it unlawful for an officer or employee of the United States or any federal agency to disclose "any cyber threat information protected from disclosure" that comes to that officer or employee in the course of his or her employment or official duties or through an investigation or report made to or filed with that official. Any person making a prohibited disclosure would be subject to imprisonment for up to one year, a fine as provided in Title 18, U.S. Code, or both.





S. 2859: Coral Reef Conservation Amendments Act of 2009



Sponsor: Inouye (D - HI)



Official Title: A bill to amend section 1028 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the possession, transfer, or use of fraudulent documents.



Status:

12/9/2009: Introduced in Senate

12/9/2009: Referred to Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee

11/17/2010: Reported to Senate by Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee



Commentary: This bill reauthorizes the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000. With certain limited exceptions, the bill makes it unlawful to "destroy, take, cause the loss of, or injure any coral reef" or component; to "possess, sell, deliver, carry, transport, or ship" coral taken in violation of the Act; or to violate issued permits or regulations promulgated by the Department of Interior or Department of Commerce pursuant to the Act. A person who "knowingly violates" one of these provisions is subject to up to five years imprisonment, criminal fines, or both. The bill also criminalizes the refusal to permit federal officers to board a vessel for purposes of inspection and enforcement of the Coral Reef Conservation Act, and criminalizes "resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, harassing, bribing, interfering with, or forcibly assaulting," or submitting false information to, federal officials in connection with such searches or inspections. A person who "knowingly commits" one of these acts is subject to up to five years imprisonment, criminal fines of up to $500,000 ($1 million for organizations). If a dangerous weapon is used that "causes bodily injury" to the officer or places him "in fear of imminent bodily injury," the maximum prison term is 10 years. The bill also criminalizes the refusal to permit federal officers to board a vessel for purposes of inspection and enforcement of the Coral Reef Conservation Act, and criminalizes "resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, harassing, bribing, interfering with, or forcibly assaulting," or submitting false information to, federal officials in connection with such searches or inspections. A person who "knowingly commits" one of these acts is subject to criminal fines of up to $500,000 ($1 million for organizations) and up to five years imprisonment. If a dangerous weapon is used that "causes bodily injury" to the officer or places him "in fear of imminent bodily injury," the maximum prison term is 10 years.

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