# H.R. 23 (119th): Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act

Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act This bill imposes sanctions against foreign persons (individuals and entities) who assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting certain individuals. The bill categorizes as protected persons (1) any U.S. individual, U.S. entity, or person in the United States, unless the United States is a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC and provides formal consent to ICC jurisdiction; and (2) any foreign person that is a citizen or lawful resident of a U.S. ally that is not a state party to the Rome Statute or has not consented to ICC jurisdiction. If the ICC attempts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person, the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions against the foreign persons that engaged in or materially assisted in such actions, as well as against foreign persons owned by, controlled by, or acting on behalf of such foreign persons. The President must also apply visa-blocking sanctions to the immediate family members of those sanctioned. Upon enactment, the bill rescinds all funds appropriated for the ICC and prohibits the subsequent use of appropriated funds for the ICC.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: accountability_for_atrocities. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: appropriations. Category: corruption_stewardship. Lane tag: general equity.
Lane: family_policy. Category: children. Lane tag: command.
Lane: foreign_policy. Category: war_peace. Lane tag: prudential.
Lane: international_criminal_court. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: justice. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: justice_protection. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: sanctions. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: sovereignty. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 7: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Roll 22: On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed H.R. 23. Vote type: cloture.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill has a defensible civil goal of protecting U.S. persons and citizens of non-consenting allies from foreign court jurisdiction, which reflects sovereignty and limits on external coercion. However, it also sanctions those who assist international efforts to investigate and prosecute possible grave crimes, which could obstruct accountability for atrocities. The metadata's abuse_accountability tag does not fit: the bill neither exposes nor prosecutes abusers, so the prior good polarity rests on a mislabeled tag and is not reliable.
Theological note: The bill raises questions of civil sovereignty, the limits of foreign tribunals over a nation's citizens, and whether a nation should shield its own people from external prosecution. It also touches on general equity, since accountability for atrocities like genocide and war crimes matters, and sanctions that block cooperation with such accountability could obstruct justice for victims. These are issues of civil justice and prudential statecraft, not a final moral verdict on this measure.

## Recorded votes

Roll 7: On Passage. Yea 243 · Nay 140 · Other 51.
Roll 22: On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed H.R. 23. Yea 54 · Nay 45 · Other 1.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-23-119/