38 U.S.C. § 2411 — Prohibition against interment or memorialization in the National Cemetery Administration or Arlington National Cemetery of persons committing certain Federal or State crimes

(a) (1) For a person described in subsection (b), the appropriate Federal official may not (A) bury the person’s remains in a National Cemetery Administration cemetery or Arlington National Cemetery, or (B) honor the person’s memory in a memorial area in such a cemetery or in Arlington. (2) For a person under subsection (b)(1), (b)(2), or (b)(4), this ban applies only if the appropriate Federal official receives written notice of the conviction before the burial or memorialization. The Attorney General provides notice for a Federal crime, and an appropriate State^* official provides it for a State crime.

(b) The person is: (1) someone finally convicted of a Federal capital crime, except someone whose sentence the President commuted; (2) someone finally convicted of a State capital crime, except someone whose sentence a State Governor commuted; (3) someone found under subsection (c) to have committed a Federal or State capital crime but not convicted because death or flight to avoid prosecution made the person unavailable for trial; (4) someone finally convicted of a Federal or State crime making the person a tier III sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (34 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), sentenced for that crime to at least life imprisonment or 99 years or more, except someone whose sentence the President or a State Governor commuted; or (5) someone found under subsection (c) to have committed a Federal or State crime that would make the person a tier III sex offender under that Act, but not convicted because death or flight to avoid prosecution made the person unavailable for trial.

(c) The appropriate Federal official makes a finding under subsection (b)(3) or (5). The finding may be based only on clear and convincing evidence and after a hearing opportunity in the manner the official prescribes.

(d) (1) In a case under subsection (e), the appropriate Federal official may reconsider a decision to bury remains or honor a memory as described in subsection (a)(1). (2)(A)(i) In a case under subsection (e)(1)(A), the official must notify the deceased person’s next of kin or another authorized burial or memorialization arranger of the decision to disinter the remains or remove a memorial headstone or marker. (ii) In a case under subsection (e)(1)(B), if the official finds by clear and convincing evidence, after a prescribed hearing opportunity, that the person committed a listed capital or tier-III-sex-offender crime but was not convicted because death or flight made the person unavailable for trial, the official must give the same notice. (B) The Secretary^* gives notice under section 5104. The Secretary of Defense gives notice under regulations prescribed for this subsection. (3)(A) Despite other law, the next of kin or authorized arranger has 60 days from the required notice to file a notice of disagreement with the official who gave notice. (B)(i) A notice filed with the Secretary is treated as one under section 7105 and starts appellate review under chapter 71. (ii) A notice filed with the Secretary of Defense is decided under the Secretary of Defense’s regulations. (4) When the decision to disinter or remove the marker becomes final because no appeal was filed under paragraph (3)(A), or because the appeal ended under (3)(B), the official may: (A) disinter the remains and arrange reburial or another proper disposition somewhere other than a National Cemetery Administration cemetery or Arlington; or (B) remove a memorial headstone or marker honoring the person from a memorial area in either.

(e) (1) A case under this subsection exists when the official receives (A) written notice of a conviction under subsection (b)(1), (2), or (4) of a person described in paragraph (2), or (B) information that such a person may have committed a listed capital or tier-III-sex-offender crime but was not convicted because death or flight made the person unavailable for trial. (2) The person is one whose remains were buried in a National Cemetery Administration cemetery or Arlington, or whose memory was honored in a memorial area in one of them.

(f) Definitions. (1) “Federal capital crime” means a Federal offense punishable by life imprisonment or death. (2) “State capital crime” means, under State law, the willful, deliberate, or premeditated unlawful killing of another human being punishable by life imprisonment or death. (3) “Appropriate Federal official” means (A) the Secretary for the National Cemetery Administration, and (B) the Secretary of the Army for Arlington National Cemetery.