No Money Bail Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1249 To discourage the use of payment of money as a condition of pretrial release in criminal cases, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 23, 2021 Mr. LIEU (for himself, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. SE- WELL, Ms. MENG, Mr. GALLEGO, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Mrs. LAWRENCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To discourage the use of payment of money as a condition of pretrial release in criminal cases, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Money Bail Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Nearly 60 percent of the inmates in jails in 8 the United States are pretrial detainees who have 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1249.IH H1249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1249 IH not been convicted of a crime, an estimated 75 per- 1 cent of whom have been charged with nonviolent 2 crimes. 3 (2) Under current bail systems that use pay- 4 ment of money as a condition of pretrial release, 5 nearly 50 percent of the most dangerous pretrial de- 6 tainees are released without supervision, according 7 to a study by the Arnold Foundation. 8 (3) Throughout the Nation, those with money 9 can buy their freedom while poor defendants remain 10 incarcerated awaiting trial. 11 (4) Pretrial detention costs State and local gov- 12 ernments an estimated $14,000,000,000 each year. 13 (5) Pretrial detention should be based on 14 whether the accused is likely to fail to appear in 15 court or is a threat to public safety, not the ability 16 to pay money as a condition of pretrial release. 17 (6) The States, the United States Department 18 of Justice, law enforcement agencies, public officials, 19 and community groups should collaborate to develop 20 pretrial detention systems that improve public safe- 21 ty, reduce costs, and discourage criminal behavior. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1249.IH H1249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1249 IH SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS UNDER THE BYRNE JAG 1 PROGRAM. 2 Section 505 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 3 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)— 5 (A) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—Beginning with the third 7 fiscal year beginning after the enactment of the ‘No 8 Money Bail Act of 2021’, the Attorney General shall 9 not allocate any amounts appropriated to carry out 10 this part to any State that uses payment of money 11 as a condition of pretrial release with respect to 12 criminal cases.’’; and 13 (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘in para- 14 graph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘in paragraphs (2) 15 and (3)’’; and 16 (2) in subsection (f)— 17 (A) by striking ‘‘If the Attorney General’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Attor- 19 ney General’’; and 20 (B) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(2) STATE INELIGIBLE DUE TO SYSTEM OF 22 BAIL.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the Attor- 23 ney General determines with respect to any grant 24 period that a State is made ineligible by subsection 25 (a)(3), the Attorney General shall reallocate any 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1249.IH H1249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1249 IH amounts allocated to or that would have been allo- 1 cated to such State for such period— 2 ‘‘(A) among the other eligible States; and 3 ‘‘(B) in proportion to allocations among el- 4 igible States under subsection (a).’’. 5 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF MONEY BAIL IN FEDERAL CRIMI- 6 NAL CASES. 7 Notwithstanding any provision of Federal law, no jus- 8 tice, judge, or other judicial official in any court created 9 by or under article III of the Constitution of the United 10 States may use payment of money as a condition of pre- 11 trial release in any criminal case. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1249.IH H1249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS