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.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed SenateMr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Ossoff, and Mr. Lee) introduced …
Passed Senate (inferred from es version)
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill abolishes the archaic "year and a day" rule for federal homicide prosecutions, which historically barred murder charges if the victim died more than a year after the attack. Now prosecutions can proceed regardless of the delay between the act and death.
Who Benefits and How
Victims and families can see justice even when death occurs long after the assault. Prosecutors gain ability to charge homicide in delayed-death cases.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Defendants can be prosecuted for homicide even if death occurs years later. Death penalty is excluded if death occurs more than 1 year and 1 day after the act.
Key Provisions
- Allows homicide prosecution regardless of time between act and death
- Preserves standard statute of limitations for bringing charges
- Prohibits death penalty if death occurred more than 1 year and 1 day after the act
- Applies only to acts occurring after enactment
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Eliminates the "year and a day" common law rule for federal homicide prosecutions, allowing charges regardless of how long the victim survived after the criminal act, except for death penalty cases.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Modernize federal homicide law by eliminating outdated common law limitation"
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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