                 TITLE 18--CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
 
                             PART I--CRIMES
 
                        CHAPTER 13--CIVIL RIGHTS
 
Sec. 247. Damage to religious property; obstruction of persons 
        in the free exercise of religious beliefs
        
    (a) Whoever, in any of the circumstances referred to in subsection 
(b) of this section--
        (1) intentionally defaces, damages, or destroys any religious 
    real property, because of the religious character of that property, 
    or attempts to do so; or
        (2) intentionally obstructs, by force or threat of force, any 
    person in the enjoyment of that person's free exercise of religious 
    beliefs, or attempts to do so;

shall be punished as provided in subsection (d).
    (b) The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) are that the 
offense is in or affects interstate or foreign commerce.
    (c) Whoever intentionally defaces, damages, or destroys any 
religious real property because of the race, color, or ethnic 
characteristics of any individual associated with that religious 
property, or attempts to do so, shall be punished as provided in 
subsection (d).
    (d) The punishment for a violation of subsection (a) of this section 
shall be--
        (1) if death results from acts committed in violation of this 
    section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, 
    aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual 
    abuse, or an attempt to kill, a fine in accordance with this title 
    and imprisonment for any term of years or for life, or both, or may 
    be sentenced to death;
        (2) if bodily injury results to any person, including any public 
    safety officer performing duties as a direct or proximate result of 
    conduct prohibited by this section, and the violation is by means of 
    fire or an explosive, a fine under this title or imprisonment for 
    not more that 40 years, or both;
        (3) if bodily injury to any person, including any public safety 
    officer performing duties as a direct or proximate result of conduct 
    prohibited by this section, results from the acts committed in 
    violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted 
    use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, a 
    fine in accordance with this title and imprisonment for not more 
    than 20 years, or both; and
        (4) in any other case, a fine in accordance with this title and 
    imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

    (e) No prosecution of any offense described in this section shall be 
undertaken by the United States except upon the certification in writing 
of the Attorney General or his designee that in his judgment a 
prosecution by the United States is in the public interest and necessary 
to secure substantial justice.
    (f) As used in this section, the term ``religious real property'' 
means any church, synagogue, mosque, religious cemetery, or other 
religious real property, including fixtures or religious objects 
contained within a place of religious worship.
    (g) No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any 
noncapital offense under this section unless the indictment is found or 
the information is instituted not later than 7 years after the date on 
which the offense was committed.

(Added Pub. L. 100-346, Sec. 1, June 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 644; amended 
Pub. L. 103-322, title VI, Sec. 60006(d), title XXXII, Sec. 320103(d), 
Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1971, 2110; Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3, July 3, 
1996, 110 Stat. 1392; Pub. L. 104-294, title VI, Secs. 601(c)(3), 
605(r), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3499, 3511.)


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(1), substituted 
``subsection (d)'' for ``subsection (c) of this section'' in concluding 
provisions.
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(3), added subsec. (b) and 
struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: ``The circumstances 
referred to in subsection (a) are that--
        ``(1) in committing the offense, the defendant travels in 
    interstate or foreign commerce, or uses a facility or 
    instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in interstate or 
    foreign commerce; and
        ``(2) in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(1), the 
    loss resulting from the defacement, damage, or destruction is more 
    than $10,000.''
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(2), added subsec. (c). Former 
subsec. (c) redesignated (d).
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(2), redesignated subsec. (c) as 
(d). Former subsec. (d) redesignated (e).
    Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(4)(C), added par. (2). 
Former par. (2) redesignated (3).
    Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(4)(A), (B), redesignated 
par. (2) as (3), inserted ``to any person, including any public safety 
officer performing duties as a direct or proximate result of conduct 
prohibited by this section,'' after ``bodily injury'' and substituted 
``20 years'' for ``ten years''. Former par. (3) redesignated (4).
    Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(4)(B), redesignated par. (3) 
as (4).
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104-294, Secs. 601(c)(3), 605(r), which 
directed identical amendments of subsec. (d) by substituting 
``certification'' for ``notification'', was executed by making the 
substitution in subsec. (e) to reflect the probable intent of Congress 
and the redesignation of subsec. (d) as (e) by Pub. L. 104-155. See 
below.
    Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(2), redesignated subsec. (d) as (e). Former 
subsec. (e) redesignated (f).
    Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(2), (5), redesignated subsec. 
(e) as (f), inserted ``, including fixtures or religious objects 
contained within a place of religious worship'' before the period, and 
substituted ``religious real property'' for ``religious property'' in 
two places.
    Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 104-155, Sec. 3(6), added subsec. (g).
    1994--Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 320103(d)(1), inserted 
``from acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts 
include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or 
an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill'' 
after ``death results''.
    Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 60006(d), inserted ``, or may be sentenced to 
death'' after ``or both''.
    Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 320103(d)(2), struck out 
``serious'' before ``bodily'' and inserted ``from the acts committed in 
violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted 
use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire'' 
after ``injury results''.
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 320103(d)(3), amended subsec. (e) 
generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (e) read as follows: ``As used in 
this section--
        ``(1) the term `religious real property' means any church, 
    synagogue, mosque, religious cemetery, or other religious real 
    property; and
        ``(2) the term `serious bodily injury' means bodily injury that 
    involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme 
    physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted 
    loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or 
    mental faculty.''


                         Congressional Findings

    Section 2 of Pub. L. 104-155 provided that: ``The Congress finds the 
following:
        ``(1) The incidence of arson or other destruction or vandalism 
    of places of religious worship, and the incidence of violent 
    interference with an individual's lawful exercise or attempted 
    exercise of the right of religious freedom at a place of religious 
    worship pose a serious national problem.
        ``(2) The incidence of arson of places of religious worship has 
    recently increased, especially in the context of places of religious 
    worship that serve predominantly African-American congregations.
        ``(3) Changes in Federal law are necessary to deal properly with 
    this problem.
        ``(4) Although local jurisdictions have attempted to respond to 
    the challenges posed by such acts of destruction or damage to 
    religious property, the problem is sufficiently serious, widespread, 
    and interstate in scope to warrant Federal intervention to assist 
    State and local jurisdictions.
        ``(5) Congress has authority, pursuant to the Commerce Clause of 
    the Constitution, to make acts of destruction or damage to religious 
    property a violation of Federal law.
        ``(6) Congress has authority, pursuant to section 2 of the 13th 
    amendment to the Constitution, to make actions of private citizens 
    motivated by race, color, or ethnicity that interfere with the 
    ability of citizens to hold or use religious property without fear 
    of attack, violations of Federal criminal law.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in title 42 section 10602.
