“We cannot continue to sit back and allow states to release violent criminals back into our local communities and neighborhoods,” Jones said. “If we want to help prevent the early release of serious offenders, we must provide states with the means to fight crime and ensure justice is served.  This bill will compensate states that are serious about keeping violent criminals off our streets.” 

 H.R. 894, the No Second Chances for Murderers, Rapists, and Child Molesters Act, or “Aimee’s Law,” was named for Aimee Willard of Brookhaven, PA who was brutally murdered and raped by a man who had committed the same crime in a different state, served jail time and was paroled. Under the bill, if a state releases a convicted murderer, rapist, or child molester from prison and that criminal is later convicted of the same crime in a different state, the first state would be forced to forgo some of its federal funding to compensate the state that obtained the second conviction. 

 More than 14,000 murders, rapes and sexual assaults against children are committed each year by individuals who have been released into our neighborhoods after serving a prison sentence for these same crimes.

 The language of H.R. 894 is identical to that of an amendment to the Juvenile Justice bill (H.R. 1501) supported by Rep. Jones and passed by the House last June. Unfortunately, the House and Senate are still working out differences in their respective versions of the bill and it has not yet reached final passage.