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Battered Women's Testimony Act of 1992

Public Law 102-527 · H.R. 1252 · 102nd Congress · began in the House

Signed by George H. W. Bush (R) on Oct 27, 1992 · Law

Sponsor: Rep. Constance Morella (R-MD-8)

Cosponsors (66): Rep. Thomas Foglietta,

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Battered Women's Testimony Act of 1992 - Directs the State Justice Institute, to: (1) collect and analyze information regarding the admissibility and quality of expert testimony on the experiences of battered women offered as part of the defense in criminal cases under State law and regarding sources of, and methods to obtain, funds to pay costs incurred to provide such testimony, particularly in cases involving indigent women defendants; (2) develop training materials to assist battered women, operators of domestic violence shelters, battered women's advocates, and attorneys in using such testimony in appropriate cases and to assist individuals with expertise in the experiences of battered women in developing skills appropriate to providing such testimony; and (3) disseminate such information and training materials and provide related technical assistance to battered women, shelter operators, advocates, attorneys, and individuals providing testimony.

Authorizes appropriations.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 15 actions.

  1. Oct 27, 1992Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 102-527.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Oct 16, 1992PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Oct 7, 1992FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. Oct 4, 1992CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
  6. Oct 3, 1992FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  7. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  8. FloorFloor · Mr. Hughes moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  9. Sep 30, 1992CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
  10. Sep 18, 1992CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  12. Aug 6, 1992CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  13. Mar 18, 1992CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  14. Mar 5, 1991CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  15. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.