Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 3.djvu/189

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PUBLIC LAW 103-322—SEPT. 13, 1994 108 STAT. 1941 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.— In addition to funds received under a grant under subsection (a), a law enforcement agency may use funds received under a grant under section 103 to accomplish the objectives of this section. Subtitle C—Civil Rights for Women SEC. 40301. SHORT TITLE. This subtitle may be cited as the "Civil Rights Remedies for Gender-Motivated Violence Act". SEC. 40302. CIVIL RIGHTS. (a) PURPOSE. —Pursuant to the affirmative power of Congress to enact this subtitle under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, as well as under section 8 of Article I of the Constitution, it -is the purpose of this subtitle to protect the civil rights of victims of gender motivated violence and to promote public safety, health, and activities affecting interstate commerce by establishing a Federal civil rights cause of action for victims of crimes of violence motivated by gender. (b) RIGHT TO BE FREE FROM CRIMES OF VIOLENCE.—A ll persons within the United States shall have the right to be free from crimes of violence motivated by gender (as defined in subsection (d)). (c) CAUSE OF ACTION.— ^A person (including a person who acts under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State) who commits a crime of violence motivated by gender and thus deprives another of the right declared in subsection (b) shall be liable to the party injured, in an action for the recovery of compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, and such other relief as a court may deem appropriate. (d) DEFINITIONS.— For purposes of this section— (1) the term "crime of violence motivated by gender" means a crime of violence committed because of gender or on the basis of gender, and due, at least in part, to an animus based on the victim's gender; and (2) the term "crime of violence" means— (A) an act or series of acts that would constitute a felony against the person or that would constitute a felony agednst property if the conduct presents a serious risk of physical injury to another, and that would come within the meaning of State or Federal offenses described in section 16 of title 18, United States Code, whether or not those acts have actually resulted in criminal charges, prosecution, or conviction and whether or not those acts were committed in the special maritime, territorial, or prison jurisdiction of the United States; and (B) includes an act or series of acts that would constitute a felony described in subparagraph (A) but for the relationship between the person who takes such action and the individual against whom such action is taken. (e) LIMITATION AND PROCEDURES. — (1) LIMITATION. —Nothing in this section entitles a person to a cause of action under subsection (c) for random acts of violence unrelated to gender or for acts that cannot be dem- Civil Rights Remedies for Gender- Motivated Violence Act. 42 USC 13701 note. 42 USC 13981.