AMENDMENT 616
Section 2A6.2(a) is amended by striking "14" and inserting "18".
Section 2A6.2(c) is amended by striking subdivision (1) as follows:
"(1) If the offense involved conduct covered by another offense guideline from Chapter Two, Part A (Offenses Against the Person), apply that offense guideline, if the resulting offense level is greater than that determined above.",
and inserting the following:
"(1) If the offense involved the commission of another criminal offense, apply the offense guideline from Chapter Two, Part A (Offenses Against the Person) most applicable to that other criminal offense, if the resulting offense level is greater than that determined above.".
The Commentary to §2A6.2 captioned "Application Notes" is amended in Note 1 by striking the 1-em dash and inserting a colon; and by striking the last paragraph as follows:
"‘Stalking’ means traveling with the intent to injure or harass another person and, in the course of, or as a result of, such travel, placing the person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury to the person or the person’s immediate family. See 18 U.S.C. § 2261A. ‘Immediate family’ has the meaning set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 115(c)(2).",
and inserting the following:
"‘Stalking’ means (A) traveling with the intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate another person and, in the course of, or as a result of, such travel, placing the person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury to that person or an immediate family member of that person; or (B) using the mail or any facility of interstate or foreign commerce to engage in a course of conduct that places that person in reasonable fear of the death of, or serious bodily injury to, that person or an immediate family member of that person. See 18 U.S.C. § 2261A. ‘Immediate family member’ (A) has the meaning given that term in 18 U.S.C. § 115(c)(2); and (B) includes a spouse or intimate partner. ‘Course of conduct’ and ‘spouse or intimate partner’ have the meaning given those terms in 18 U.S.C. § 2266(2) and (7), respectively.".
The Commentary to §1B1.5 captioned "Application Notes" is amended in Note 3 by inserting after the first sentence the following:
"Consistent with the provisions of §1B1.3 (Relevant Conduct), such other offense includes conduct that may be a state or local offense and conduct that occurred under circumstances that would constitute a federal offense had the conduct taken place within the territorial or maritime jurisdiction of the United States.".
Reason for Amendment: This amendment addresses section 1107 of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L 106–386 (the "Act"). That section amends 18 U.S.C. §§ 2261, 2261A, and 2262 to broaden the reach of those statutes to include international travel to stalk, commit domestic violence, or violate a protective order. Section 2261A also is amended to broaden the category of persons protected by this statute to include intimate partners of the person stalked. The Act also creates a new offense at section 2261A(2) that prohibits the use of the mail or any facility of interstate or foreign commerce to commit a stalking offense. Several technical changes were also made to these statutes.
The Act includes a directive to the Commission to amend the federal sentencing guidelines to reflect the changes made to 18 U.S.C. § 2261, with specific consideration to be given to the following factors: (1) whether the guidelines relating to stalking offenses should be modified in light of the amendment made by this subsection; and (2) whether any changes the Commission may make to the guidelines pursuant to clause (1) should also be made with respect to offenses under chapter 110A of title 18, United States Code (stalking and domestic violence offenses).
For several reasons, the amendment refers the new stalking by mail offense, like other stalking offenses, to §2A6.2 (Stalking or Domestic Violence). First, the statutory penalties for stalking by mail are the same as the statutory penalties for other stalking offenses. Second, although there was some consideration to refer this new offense to §2A6.1 (Threatening or Harassing Communications), stalking by mail offenses differ significantly from threatening communications in that the former require the defendant’s intent to kill, or injure a person, or place a person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury. Third, referencing stalking by mail offenses to §2A6.1 could result in these offenses receiving higher penalties than other stalking offenses. For example, a defendant who writes a threatening letter, violates a protective order, and engages in some conduct evidencing an intent to carry out such threat, would receive an offense level of level 20 under §2A6.1. A defendant who engages in stalking by mail, violates a protective order, and actually commits bodily injury on the person who is the subject of the protection order would have received, prior to this amendment, an offense level of level 18 under §2A6.2. This amendment reflects the policy judgment that the second defendant should receive punishment equal to, or perhaps greater than, that received by the first defendant. Accordingly, because of concern for proportionality in sentencing stalking and domestic violence offenses relative to other crimes, such as threatening or harassing communications, this amendment increases the base offense level in §2A6.2 from level 14 to level 18. Setting the base offense level at level 18 for stalking and domestic violence crimes ensures that these offenses are sentenced at or above the offense levels for offenses involving threatening and harassing communications.
The amendment also conforms the definition of "stalking" in Application Note 1 of §2A6.2 to the statutory changes made by the Act. Additionally, the amendment modifies the language of subsection (c) in §2A6.2 to clarify application of the cross reference. This change is consistent with the amendment to Application Note 3 of §1B1.5 (Interpretation of References to Other Offense Guidelines), which also clarifies the operation of cross references generally.
These revisions are designed to clarify that, unless otherwise specified, cross references in Chapter Two (Offense Conduct) are to be determined consistently with the provisions of §1B1.3 (Relevant Conduct). Therefore, in a case in which the guideline includes a reference to use another guideline if the conduct involved another offense, the other offense includes conduct that may be a state or local offense and conduct that occurred under circumstances that would constitute a federal offense had the conduct taken place within the territorial or maritime jurisdiction of the United States.
Effective Date: The effective date of this amendment is November 1, 2001.