LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2023
This bill prohibits defendants from using a victim's LGBTQ+ sexual orientation or gender identity as a legal defense to excuse or reduce punishment for violent crimes. It directly affects criminal trials in federal courts where defendants claim such characteristics provoked their violent actions against LGBTQ+ individuals. The law amends Title 18 of the U.S. Code to ban this specific "panic defense" while allowing courts to consider evidence of the defendant's past trauma under standard evidence rules. It also requires the Attorney General to annually report on federal prosecutions involving bias-motivated violence against LGBTQ+ people.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jul 2023
Committee Review
Floor Vote
President
Introduced Jul 12, 2023
Last action Jul 12, 2023
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
2
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Jul 12, 2023
Committee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
upper
Jul 12, 2023
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 17 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Edward J. Markey
DDemocratic
Co
Alex Padilla
DDemocratic
Co
Amy Klobuchar
DDemocratic
Co
Benjamin L. Cardin
DDemocratic
Co
Bernard Sanders
IIndependent
Co
Cory A. Booker
DDemocratic
Co
Dianne Feinstein
DDemocratic
Co
Elizabeth Warren
DDemocratic
Co
Jeff Merkley
DDemocratic
Co
Mazie K. Hirono
DDemocratic
Co
Richard Blumenthal
DDemocratic
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