Friday, January 21, 2011

Overcriminalized.com Legislative Update

From Overcriminalized.com:

Table of Contents




New:



H.R. 196: Simplifying The Ambiguous Law, Keeping Everyone Reliably Safe (STALKERS) Act of 2011

H.R. 173: Medicare Fraud Prevention Act of 2011

H.R. 138: Ethics in Foreign Lobbying Act of 2011



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H.R. 196: Simplifying The Ambiguous Law, Keeping Everyone Reliably Safe (STALKERS) Act of 2011



Sponsor: Sanchez (D - CA)



Official Title: A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to the offense of stalking.



Status:

1/6/2011: Introduced in House

1/6/2011: Referred to House Judiciary Committee

1/6/2011: Referred to House Budget Committee



Commentary: Section 2261A(1) of Title 18, U.S. Code, presently makes stalking illegal when the prohibited conduct involves "travel[] in interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or enter[ing] or leav[ing] Indian country." H.R. 196 would loosen the interstate commerce requirements of the law even further and make stalking unlawful when the conduct occurs "in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States." The bill would define stalking as conduct engaged in "with intent to kill, physically injure, harass, or intimidate a person ... that causes or attempts to cause bodily injury or serious emotional distress" or "occurs in circumstances where the conduct would be reasonably expected to cause the other person serious emotional distress." It would also enhance the available criminal penalties for certain forms of stalking. Specifically, if the illegal conduct involves the violation of a protective order or if the victim is under the age of 18, the term of imprisonment that may be imposed by the sentencing judge could be increased by up to five years over the baseline set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2261(b).





H.R. 173: Medicare Fraud Prevention Act of 2011



Sponsor: Stearns (R - FL)



Official Title: A bill to amend titles XI and XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide increased civil and criminal penalties for acts involving fraud and abuse under the Medicare Program and to increase the amount of the surety bond required for suppliers of durable medical equipment.



Status:

1/5/2011: Introduced in House

1/5/2011: Referred to House Ways and Means Committee

1/5/2011: Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee



Commentary: This bill would amend titles XI and XVII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7a) to increase the civil and criminal penalties for Medicare fraud and abuse. In particular, it would quadruple most criminal fines for false statements and representations, "illegal remunerations," and "illegal patient admittance and retention" and would double the maximum imposable sentences for such violations from five to 10 years imprisonment. H.R. 173 would also double the maximum sentence for excessive Medicare billing from five to 10 years imprisonment.





H.R. 138: Ethics in Foreign Lobbying Act of 2011



Sponsor: Kaptur (D - OH)



Official Title: A bill to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit contributions and expenditures by multi-candidate political committees controlled by foreign-owned corporations, and for other purposes.



Status:

1/5/2011: Introduced in House

1/5/2011: Referred to House Administration Committee

1/5/2011: Referred to House Judiciary Committee



Commentary: This bill would establish within the Federal Election Commission a clearinghouse of public information regarding the political activities of foreign principals and their agents. The clearinghouse would maintain registrations and reports filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, the Ethics in Government Act, and the Federal Election Campaign Act for the preceding five-year period. It would also maintain listings of public hearings, hearing witnesses, and witness affiliations printed in the Congressional Record during the preceding five-year period. Clearinghouse employees would be prohibited from disclosing any other information, except as otherwise provided by law. Anyone who discloses additional information and anyone who sells or uses the information for the "purpose of soliciting contributions or for any profit-making purpose" would be subject to criminal fines and imprisonment of up to one year. The bill also prohibits contributions and expenditures by multi-candidate political committees and by separate segregated funds of foreign-controlled corporations and associations. The bill requires each multi-candidate political committee or separate segregated fund of a corporation to include in their organizational statements the percentage ownership interest that is foreign-controlled, or in the case of an association, the percentage of operating funds derived from foreign-controlled sources. In addition, the bill specifies civil penalties for failing to file, omitting material facts from, or making false statements in registration statements filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.





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