Should Assaulting a Journalist be a Federal Crime? (H.R. 4935)

What is H.R. 4935?

(Updated October 9, 2019)

This bill — the Journalist Protection Act — would make assault against journalists a federal crime if the assault is committed while the journalist is news-gathering or done to intimidate or impede news-gathering by the journalist. Causing bodily injury to a journalist would be punishable by up to three years imprisonment and fines, while serious bodily injury would be punished by up to six years imprisonment and fines.

Argument in favor

Anti-journalist rhetoric is out of control and by making it a federal crime to assault a journalist this bill would send a clear message that such violence won’t be tolerated.

Argument opposed

Assault is already a crime that states enforce, and there’s no apparent wave of violence against journalists. This bill is purely an attempt to score political points.

Impact

Journalists who are assaulted and their attackers; and the judicial system.

Cost of H.R. 4935

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) introduced this bill to make a federal crime of certain attacks on journalists reporting the news:

“President Donald Trump’s campaign and administration have created a toxic atmosphere. It’s not just about labelling reports of his constant falsehoods as #FakeNews — it’s his casting of media personalities and outlets as anti-American targets, and encouraging people to engage in violence.

Not all attacks on journalists this year have been committed by Trump supporters, but the fact remains that rhetoric emanating from the world’s most powerful office is stoking an environment in which these attacks proliferate. We must send a loud, clear message that such violence won’t be tolerated.”

In a column for The Daily Signal, Amy Swearer — a visiting legal fellow at the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation — wrote in opposition to this bill:

“While the president has occasionally spoken out harshly against the media, he has not deviated from previous administrations in his legal treatment of them. The press has not been restricted in any substantive way, and the First Amendment remains a shining example of liberty even as countries like France move to suppress anything the government deems “fake news.”

The federal criminal code is already dangerously broad and complex, and there is no need to add a toothless statute that duplicates vigorously enforced state laws and amounts to little more than political pandering. This is particularly so when, like the Journalist Protection Act, the statute is a solution in need of a problem.”

This legislation has the support of 12 cosponsors in the House, all of whom are Democrats.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Press Release
  
• Countable
  
• CNN
  
• The Daily Signal (Op-Ed Opposed)