II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1445 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide an affirmative defense for certain criminal violations, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Mr. MULLIN 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 provide an affirm- ative defense for certain criminal violations, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Stand Your Ground 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. CERTAIN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES. 6 (a) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 18, United 8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 9 following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1445.IS S1445 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1445 IS ‘‘§ 28. Affirmative defense for certain criminal viola- 1 tions 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘forcible 3 felony’ includes treason, murder, manslaughter, sexual 4 battery, carjacking, home-invasion robbery, robbery, bur- 5 glary, arson, kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated 6 battery, aggravated stalking, aircraft piracy, unlawful 7 throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device 8 or bomb, and any other felony which involves the use or 9 threat of physical force or violence against any individual. 10 ‘‘(b) USE OR THREATENED USE OF NON-DEADLY 11 FORCE IN DEFENSE OF PERSON.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an affirmative 13 defense to a prosecution under this title that the de- 14 fendant used, threatened to use, or attempted to use 15 force, except deadly force, against an aggressor if, 16 and to the extent that, the defendant reasonably be- 17 lieved that the use, threat to use, or attempt to use 18 such force was necessary to defend the defendant or 19 another individual against the imminent use of un- 20 lawful force by the aggressor. 21 ‘‘(2) NO DUTY TO RETREAT.—For purposes of 22 paragraph (1), an individual who is at risk of be- 23 coming a victim of a forcible felony shall not be re- 24 quired to first seek retreat as the preferred alter- 25 native to using force to act in self-defense. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1445.IS S1445 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1445 IS ‘‘(c) USE OR THREATENED USE OF DEADLY FORCE 1 IN DEFENSE OF PERSON.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an affirmative 3 defense to a prosecution under this title that the de- 4 fendant used, threatened to use, or attempted to use 5 deadly force against an aggressor if the defendant 6 reasonably believed that the use, threat to use, or at- 7 tempt to use such force was necessary to— 8 ‘‘(A) prevent imminent death or great bod- 9 ily harm to the defendant or another individual; 10 or 11 ‘‘(B) prevent the imminent commission of 12 a forcible felony. 13 ‘‘(2) NO DUTY TO RETREAT; RIGHT TO STAND 14 YOUR GROUND.—For purposes of paragraph (1), an 15 individual who is at risk of becoming a victim of a 16 forcible felony— 17 ‘‘(A) shall not be required to first seek re- 18 treat as the preferred alternative to using force 19 to act in self-defense; and 20 ‘‘(B) may use any means necessary to de- 21 fend himself or herself if the individual— 22 ‘‘(i) is not engaged in criminal activ- 23 ity; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1445.IS S1445 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1445 IS ‘‘(ii) is in a place where the individual 1 has a right to be. 2 ‘‘(d) BURDEN OF PROOF.—The defendant has the 3 burden of proving a defense under this section by a pre- 4 ponderance of the evidence.’’. 5 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 6 for chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is 7 amended by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘28. Affirmative defense for certain criminal violations.’’. (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—The amend- 9 ments made by subsection (a) shall— 10 (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this 11 Act; and 12 (2) apply to any prosecution commenced after 13 the date of enactment of this Act. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1445.IS S1445 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB