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Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 204 _ Filed 04/16/21 Page 5/7 of 239
The defendant argues that Congress did not intend for Section 3283 to apply to pre-
enactment conduct, and asserts that the legislative history supports this interpretation. Specifically,
the defendant points to an earlier version of the bill, which contained an express retroactivity
provision that was not included in the final version of the statute. (Def. Mot. 2 at 6-7). The
defendant’s argument on this point is both misleading and unpersuasive. The defendant quotes
Senator Patrick Leahy’s comments on the 2003 conference committee report to the effect that “the
conference agreed to drop language from the original House-passed bill that would have extended
the limitations period retroactively.” (Def. Mot. 2 at 7). This is a selective quotation; the full
statement regarding retroactivity is as follows:
A final point on section 202: I am pleased that the conference agreed
to drop language from the original House-passed bill that would
have extended the limitations period retroactively. That language,
which would have revived the government’s authority to prosecute
crimes that were previously time-barred, is of doubtful
constitutionality. We are already pushing the constitutional
envelope with respect to several of the “virtual porn” provisions in
this bill. I am pleased that we are not doing so in section 202 as
well.
149 Cong. Rec. $5137, $5147 (Apr. 10, 2003) (statement of Sen. Leahy) (emphasis added). As
the full quotation makes clear, the legislative history does not support the conclusion that when
Congress amended Section 3283, it declined to adopt the language in the House-passed bill
because it wanted the lengthened statute of limitations to apply only prospectively. Instead,
Senator Leahy’s comments indicate that Congress declined to add language that would allow for
2018 WL 4043140, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 9, 2018) (2016 indictment covering conduct going back
to 1998); United State v. Nader, 425 F. Supp. 3d 619, 622 (E.D. Va. 2019) (2019 indictment for
conduct in 2000). Indeed, that is precisely what Congress authorized when it extended the statute
of limitations for such crimes through the lifetime of the victim.
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Extracted Information
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00002991.jpg |
| File Size | 755.0 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 93.9% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,261 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 16:29:25.217651 |