II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 619 To amend title 18, United States Code, to make the murder of a Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer a crime punishable by life in prison or death. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 9, 2021 Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to make the murder of a Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer a crime punishable by life in prison or death. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defending Our De- 4 fenders Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. MURDER OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 51 of title 18, United 7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S619.IS S619 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 619 IS ‘‘§ 1123. Murder of law enforcement officers 1 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—In 2 the case of an individual who commits an offense described 3 in section 1111 and the victim of the offense is a Federal 4 law enforcement officer (as defined in section 2 of the Law 5 Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery Act of 2008 6 (34 U.S.C. 50301)) acting in the course of the official du- 7 ties of the officer, the individual shall be punished by 8 death or by imprisonment for life. 9 ‘‘(b) STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI- 10 CERS.—In the case of an individual who travels in inter- 11 state or foreign commerce or uses any facility interstate 12 or foreign commerce, including the mail, telephone, radio, 13 or television, with the intent to commit an offense de- 14 scribed in section 1111 or who uses a weapon or instru- 15 ment that has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce 16 to commit said offense, and the victim of the offense is 17 a State or local law enforcement officer (as defined in sec- 18 tion 2 of the Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of 19 Bravery Act of 2008 (34 U.S.C. 50301)) acting in the 20 course of the official duties of the officer, the individual 21 shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for life. 22 ‘‘(c) AGGRAVATING FACTORS.—In determining 23 whether a sentence of death is to be imposed on a defend- 24 ant convicted of an offense described in subsection (a) or 25 (b), the jury, or if there is no jury, the court, shall con- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S619.IS S619 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 619 IS sider, in addition to the factors described in section 1 3592(c), each of the following aggravating factors for 2 which notice has been given and determine which, if any, 3 exist: 4 ‘‘(1) INTENT TO AMBUSH.—The defendant com- 5 mitted the offense by an act of ambush. 6 ‘‘(2) PRIOR STATEMENTS ADVOCATING FOR OR 7 PROMOTING VIOLENCE AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT 8 OFFICERS.—The defendant has a prior history of 9 advocating for or promoting acts of violence, includ- 10 ing murder or assault, against a law enforcement of- 11 ficer. 12 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATION IN OR AFFILIATION WITH 13 ANARCHIST OR OTHER VIOLENCE PROMOTING ORGA- 14 NIZATION.—The defendant is a member of or affili- 15 ated with any organization that the Attorney Gen- 16 eral or other high ranking law enforcement official 17 has determined to be an anarchist, domestic ter- 18 rorist, or any other organization or group that ac- 19 tively promotes violence or the overthrow of the Fed- 20 eral Government. 21 ‘‘(4) OCCURRENCE DURING ORGANIZED ANTI- 22 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER ACTIVITY.—The of- 23 fense was committed during a time and in a place 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S619.IS S619 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 619 IS when there was active organized activity against or 1 targeting law enforcement officers. 2 ‘‘(5) ATTEMPT TO PREVENT LAWFUL EXECU- 3 TION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT DUTIES.—The defend- 4 ant committed the offense in attempt to evade or 5 otherwise prevent the law enforcement officer from 6 carrying out a lawful arrest or other lawful author- 7 ized law enforcement activity. 8 ‘‘(6) PRIOR THREATS.—The defendant has per- 9 sonally made prior threats of violence against a law 10 enforcement officer. 11 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 12 tion shall be construed as— 13 ‘‘(1) indicating an intent on the part of Con- 14 gress to prevent any State, any possession or Com- 15 monwealth of the United States, or the District of 16 Columbia, from exercising jurisdiction over any of- 17 fense over which the State, possession, Common- 18 wealth, or District of Columbia would have jurisdic- 19 tion in the absence of this section; or 20 ‘‘(2) depriving State and local law enforcement 21 agencies of responsibility for prosecuting acts that 22 may be violations of this section and that are viola- 23 tions of State or local law.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S619.IS S619 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 619 IS (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 1 chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 2 by inserting after the item relating to section 1122 the 3 following: 4 ‘‘1123. Murder of law enforcement officers.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S619.IS S619 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS