SB 650

Current law classifies crimes as Class A to I felonies or Class A to C misdemeanors. Current law also provides penalty enhancers if a crime is committed under certain circumstances. Under this bill, a person who commits a crime is guilty of a crime that is one classification level higher than current law provides if the underlying crime is committed by a person acting as an agent of a foreign government or foreign terrorist organization with the intent to harass, intimidate, silence, punish, or otherwise impose the foreign government’s or foreign terrorist organization’s control, preferences, viewpoints, or laws upon a dissident; exile; activist; journalist; political opponent; member of a religious, ethnic, or political minority group; or citizen of another country due to their political view. This is commonly known as transnational repression.

The bill also requires the Department of Justice to do all of the following: 1) develop a training program for law enforcement officers on how to identify and respond to transnational repression; 2) develop best practices on how to prevent transnational repression within local communities; 3) maintain a list of countries and foreign terrorist organizations that perpetrate transnational repression; and 4) develop a public awareness campaign to help individuals identify and report cases of transnational repression.

The bill also makes it a Class E felony to intentionally engage in the prevention, detection, investigation, monitoring, surveilling, or prosecution of an offense under the law or rule of a foreign government or foreign terrorist organization without the approval of the federal government or a Wisconsin law enforcement agency with jurisdiction. The bill imposes a three-year mandatory minimum term of confinement in prison and a mandatory minimum fine of at least $10,000 for a conviction.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report.