S 960 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Justice for Murder Victims Act
To ensure that homicides can be prosecuted under Federal law without regard to the time elapsed between the act or omission that caused the death of the victim and the death itself.
Summary
This bill amends federal law to allow prosecution for homicide offenses without any time limit between the act or omission that caused death and the victim's death itself. Currently, federal homicide law contains implicit time requirements that could prevent prosecution of deaths that occur long after the initial harmful act. The bill removes this restriction while preserving the general statute of limitations for federal crimes. However, the death penalty can only be imposed if the government proves beyond a reasonable doubt that death occurred within one year and one day of the harmful act. For deaths occurring more than one year and one day after the harmful act, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment rather than capital punishment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (R-IA)
2 cosponsors
- Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] (R-UT)
- Sen. Ossoff, Jon [D-GA] (D-GA)
Actions (6)
- Mar 14, 2025 Held at the desk. · house
- Mar 14, 2025 Received in the House. · house
- Mar 12, 2025 Message on Senate action sent to the House. · senate
- Mar 11, 2025 Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S1675-1676; text: CR S1676) · senate
- Mar 11, 2025 Passed/agreed to in Senate: Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- Mar 11, 2025 Introduced in Senate
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 11 (legislative day, March 10), 2025
Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Ossoff, and Mr. Lee) introduced the following bill; which was read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed
A BILL
To ensure that homicides can be prosecuted under Federal law without regard to the time elapsed between the act or omission that caused the death of the victim and the death itself.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Justice for Murder Victims Act”.
SEC. 2. HOMICIDE OFFENSES.
(a) In General.—Chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “Sec. 1123. No maximum time period between act or omission and death of victim
“(a) In General.—A prosecution may be instituted for any homicide offense under this title without regard to the time that elapsed between—
“(1) the act or omission that caused the death of the victim; and
“(2) the death of the victim.
“(b) Relation to Statute of Limitations.—Nothing in subsection
(a) shall be construed to supersede the limitations period under section 3282(a), to the extent applicable.
“(c) Maximum Time Period Applicable if Death Penalty Imposed.—A sentence of death may not be imposed for a homicide offense under this title unless the Government proves beyond a reasonable doubt that not more than 1 year and 1 day elapsed between—
“(1) the act or omission that caused the death of the victim; and
“(2) the death of the victim.”.
(b) Table of Contents.—The table of sections for chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“1123. No maximum time period between act or omission and death of victim.”.
(c) Applicability.—Section 1123(a) of title 18, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to an act or omission described in that section that occurs after the date of enactment of this Act.
(d) Maximum Penalty for First-Degree Murder Based on Time Period Between Act or Omission and Death of Victim.—Section 1111(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after “imprisonment for life” the following: “, unless the death of the victim occurred more than 1 year and 1 day after the act or omission that caused the death of the victim, in which case the punishment shall be imprisonment for any term of years or for life”. <all>
Comments