Court Security Improvement Act of 2007: H.R. 660/S. 378 in Brief Page: 1 of 6
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Order Code RS22607
February 20, 2007
~. CRS Report for Congress
Court Security Improvement Act of 2007:
H.R. 660/S. 378 in Brief
Charles Doyle
Senior Specialist
American Law Division
Summary
The Chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees have introduced the
Court Security Improvement Act of 2007, H.R. 660/S. 378 in a form that mirrors
legislation that passed the Senate at the close of the 109th Congress. The bill consists
of four components: adjustments to applicable provisions of criminal law, reenforcement
of the authority and oversight features of the law governing federal judicial security,
grant programs to facilitate increased security for the judiciary of the states, and
miscellaneous provisions whose relation to judicial security might initially appear
remote. This is a brief discussion of the legal background of each component.
This is an abridged version of CRS Report RL33884, Court Security Improvement
Act of 2007: A Legal Analysis of H.R. 660/S. 378, by Charles Doyle, without the
footnotes and citations to authority found in the longer report.
I. Existing Criminal Law :Federal Judges, Officers and Employees. It
is a federal crime: (1) to assault, kidnap or kill a federal judge during or on account of the
performance of his or her duties; or (2) to assault, kidnap, or murder of an immediate
member of a federal judge's family with the intent to obstruct (or retaliate for) the judge's
performance of his or her duties; or (3) to assault, kidnap, or murder a former federal
judge or member of his or her family on account of the performance of judge's duties; or
(4) to threaten, attempt, or conspire to do so. Moreover, the proscriptions are not limited
to federal judges. They protect federal law enforcement officers as well as prosecutors
and in fact protect any federal officer or employee or anyone assisting them, as long as the
threat, assault, kidnaping or killing has the necessary connection (during or on account of)
to the performances of federal duties. The penalties are calibrated according to the
seriousness of the obstructing offense. H.R. 660/S. 378 ( 207)1 increases the maximum
H.R. 660 and S. 378 as introduced appear to be identical with two exceptions. In Sections 105
and 301, H.R. 660 authorizes appropriations for the fiscal years 2006 through 2011; while in
those same sections, S. 378 authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 2007 through 2011. Since
the bills are virtually the same, we have referred to them as a single bill.
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Doyle, Charles. Court Security Improvement Act of 2007: H.R. 660/S. 378 in Brief, report, February 20, 2007; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc806202/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.