(Senate agreed to House amendment with an amendment) Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982 - Amends rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to require that presentence reports contain: (1) information concerning any harm or loss suffered by the victim; (2) information that may aid the court in sentencing; (3) a statement of the circumstances of the commission of the offense; and (4) any prior criminal record of the defendant. Amends the Federal criminal code to establish as offenses, "tampering with a witness or an informant," and "retaliating against a witness or an informant." Authorizes the Attorney General to initiate civil proceedings to restrain any harrassment of a victim or witness. Authorizes a sentencing court to order the defendant to make restitution. Requires the court to state for the record the reasons for not ordering restitution. Prescribes a procedure for the issuance of restitution orders. Directs the Attorney General to develop Federal guidelines for the fair treatment of crime victims and witnesses. Requires the Attorney General to consider certain objectives in preparing the guidelines, including: (1) ensuring that victims receive prompt social and medical services; (2) giving victims and witnesses notice of important criminal justice proceedings and scheduling changes; (3) arranging for the prosecution to obtain the nonbinding views of victims of serious crimes during such stages as plea bargaining and pretrial release; (4) encouraging employers to continue to pay victims and witnesses for work absences to assist investigations and prosecutions; (5) training law enforcement personnel in victim assistance; (6) informing victims or witnesses on legal steps for protection from intimidation. Directs the Attorney General to recommend to Congress any laws that are necessary to ensure that no Federal felon derives any profit from the sale of his or her story until any victim of the offense receives restitution. Amends the Bail Reform Act of 1966 to require as a condition of pretrial release that the defendant not commit certain offenses.
S 2420 - 97Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982
Became Public Law No: 97-291.
Bill Text Stats
Affected Sectors
How to read this
Sectors are deterministic matches from official Congress.gov data and cached bill text. They are source-derived signals, not conclusions about intent or economic effect.
Evidence matches count official fields, normalized subjects, cached text snippets, or extracted entities that matched the sector rules.
Impact is a bill-level rollup used for sorting and filtering. It is not an economic impact estimate.
Confidence is the strongest individual match score behind that sector.
Evidence snippets show why a sector matched and can repeat when Congress.gov repeats the same phrase across official fields.
CBO Cost Estimates
Official Congressional Budget Office cost estimate links associated with this bill through Congress.gov records.
How to read this
CBO estimates are official source documents with their own assumptions, scope, and publication dates. They can score a bill, a version of a bill, or a broader legislative package.
LawLinter stores the source link from Congress.gov and does not replace the CBO document. Use these cards as pointers for source review, not as independent fiscal advice.
CBO context shows source-attributed Congressional Budget Office cost estimates linked from official Congress.gov bill records. It is research context only; read the official CBO source document for assumptions, scope, and dates.
Campaign Finance Context
Related FEC/OpenFEC campaign-finance records for lawmakers and candidates tied to this bill through source-attributed legislative relationships. These are not donations to the bill itself.
How to read this
Amounts shown here are campaign-finance totals for sponsor or cosponsor-linked candidates and their committees in the displayed FEC cycle.
They are not donations to this bill, spending on this bill, or proof that money influenced or caused sponsorship, cosponsorship, votes, or legislative outcomes.
If multiple linked lawmakers have FEC records, this section can show multiple candidate cards and separate sponsor/cosponsor rollups.
Campaign-finance context uses source-attributed FEC/OpenFEC records that are related or relevant to the displayed bill, lawmaker, candidate, committee, or legislative relationship through deterministic links. It is research context only, not proof of influence, causation, endorsement, or that money caused a sponsorship, vote, or legislative outcome.
Lobbying Context
Related LDA.gov filings where public lobbying activity descriptions reference this bill. These records are source-attributed research context, not evidence of influence or causation.
How to read this
LDA filings are public lobbying disclosure records. LawLinter links them here only when the filing activity text contains an exact-looking reference to this bill.
A filing can mention many issues, clients, agencies, or bills. A match should be treated as a pointer for review, not as a conclusion about why legislation changed or how any lawmaker acted.
Lobbying context uses source-attributed LDA.gov records that appear related to this bill through bill references in public lobbying activity descriptions. It is research context only, not proof of influence, causation, endorsement, lobbying effectiveness, or legislative intent.
Summary
Sponsors
Timeline
Measure Signed in Senate.
Presented to President.
Presented to President.
Signed by President.
Signed by President.
Became Public Law No: 97-291.
Became Public Law No: 97-291.
Considered by Senate.
Resolving differences -- Senate actions: Senate concurred in the House amendments with an amendment (SU 1376) by Voice Vote.
Senate concurred in the House amendments with an amendment (SU 1376) by Voice Vote.
Resolving differences -- House actions: House Agreed to Senate Amendments to House Amendments by Unanimous Consent.
House Agreed to Senate Amendments to House Amendments by Unanimous Consent.
House Committee on The Judiciary Discharged by Unanimous Consent.
House Committee on The Judiciary Discharged by Unanimous Consent.
Called up by House by Unanimous Consent.
Passed/agreed to in House: Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Referred to Subcommittee on Criminal Justice.
Referred to House Committee on The Judiciary.
Considered by Senate.
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with amendments by Voice Vote.
Passed Senate with amendments by Voice Vote.
Committee on Judiciary. Reported to Senate by Senator Thurmond with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 97-532.
Committee on Judiciary. Reported to Senate by Senator Thurmond with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 97-532.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Regular Orders. Calendar No. 769.
Committee on Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Subcommittee on Criminal Law. Approved for full committee consideration with amendments favorably.
Subcommittee on Criminal Law. Hearings held.
Referred to Subcommittee on Criminal Law.
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.