Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2152 To provide grants to States, localities, and Indian Tribes to reform their criminal justice system to encourage the replacement of the use of pay- ment of secured money bail as a condition of pretrial release in criminal cases, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2021 Mr. LIEU (for himself and Mr. NADLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide grants to States, localities, and Indian Tribes to reform their criminal justice system to encourage the replacement of the use of payment of secured money bail 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 ‘‘Pretrial Integrity and 4 Safety Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2152 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. 1 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 2 grants to States, units of local government, and Indian 3 Tribes to reform their criminal justice system to encour- 4 age the replacement of the use of payment of money bail 5 as a condition of pretrial release in criminal cases. 6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The justice system of the United States, a 8 cornerstone of our free society, is built on the ideals 9 that all accused people are presumed innocent unless 10 and until proven guilty, that all accused people have 11 the right to assert their innocence in a trial, that lib- 12 erty should not be denied absent due process of law, 13 that rich and poor people should be treated equally, 14 and that people should be judged by their own indi- 15 vidual actions, and not prejudged based on the ac- 16 tions of others. 17 (2) Pretrial detention and the money bail sys- 18 tems prevalent in most States undermine these 19 ideals by jailing people unnecessarily before a find- 20 ing of guilt and with minimal due process, and by 21 establishing a system that allows wealthy people to 22 pay for their liberty, while poor people remain in 23 jail. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2152 IH (3) The inability to post money bail may result 1 in innocent people pleading guilty to low-level crimes 2 they did not commit so they can be released. 3 (4) Money bail systems have resulted in dis- 4 parate harms to poor people and communities of 5 color. Compared to white men charged with the 6 same crime and with the same criminal histories, Af- 7 rican-American men receive bail amounts that are 8 35 percent higher, and for Latino men, bail is set 9 19 percent higher than for white men. 10 (5) African Americans are 24 percent more 11 likely to be denied bail and 21 percent less likely to 12 be granted non-financial release than whites with 13 similar legal characteristics. Latinos are 25 percent 14 less likely to be granted nonfinancial conditions of 15 release. 16 (6) Although most women in jail are charged 17 with nonviolent crimes, women are less likely to be 18 able to afford money bail, and women in jail before 19 trial earn scarcely more per year than the average 20 bail amount of $10,000. 21 (7) Detaining people who would otherwise be 22 highly likely to succeed in pretrial compliance, even 23 just for a few days, is strongly correlated with high- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2152 IH er rates of new criminal activity both during the pre- 1 trial period and years after case disposition. 2 (8) When held for 2 to 3 days, people who 3 would have been highly likely to succeed in their 4 communities are almost 40 percent more likely to be 5 arrested for new crimes before trial than similarly 6 situated defendants held no more than 24 hours. 7 (9) Court reminder programs are a low-cost, 8 highly effective way of improving court appearance 9 rates. One review of different forms of court remind- 10 ers found failure-to-appear rates were reduced by 23 11 to 43 percent with the use of reminders. 12 (10) Pretrial supervision is most effective for 13 people with a decreased probability of appearing in 14 court, reducing failures to appear by 33 to 38 per- 15 cent. 16 (11) Jailing individuals before trial is the great- 17 est expense generated by current pretrial justice 18 practice. Unconvicted detainees account for 95 per- 19 cent of jail population growth, nationally, since 20 2000. Taxpayers now spend approximately 21 $38,000,000 per day to jail individuals who are 22 awaiting trial. Annually, this adds up to 23 $14,000,000,000 used to detain individuals. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2152 IH SEC. 3. PRETRIAL INTEGRITY AND SAFETY. 1 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 2 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 3 by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘PART OO—PRETRIAL INTEGRITY AND SAFETY 5 ‘‘SEC. 3051. GRANTS AND CONDITIONS. 6 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 7 ‘‘(1) REPLACEMENT OF MONEY BAIL.—The As- 8 sistant Attorney General may make grants to eligible 9 entities for the replacement of the use of payment 10 of money bail as a condition of pretrial release with 11 respect to criminal cases. 12 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL PRETRIAL REPORTING PRO- 13 GRAM.—The Assistant Attorney General may make 14 grants to eligible entities to implement a National 15 Pretrial Reporting Program to collect data on the 16 processing of defendants by courts of States, units 17 of local government, and Indian Tribes. 18 ‘‘(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 19 ‘‘(1) DURATION OF GRANTS.—A grant under 20 subsection (a) shall be for a period of 3 fiscal years. 21 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUMS.— 22 ‘‘(A) REPLACEMENT OF MONEY BAIL.— 23 ‘‘(i) MAXIMUM NUMBERS.—During 24 each fiscal year for which amounts are 25 made available to carry out subsection 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2152 IH (a)(1), the Assistant Attorney General may 1 award not more than 6 grants under such 2 subsection to eligible entities for the 3-year 3 grant period beginning in such fiscal year. 4 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM AMOUNTS.—In mak- 5 ing grants under subsection (a)(1) for a 3- 6 year grant period beginning in a fiscal 7 year, the Assistant Attorney General shall 8 ensure that the total amount awarded 9 under all grants for the duration of such 10 period does not exceed $10,000,000, of 11 which— 12 ‘‘(I) not more than $6,500,000 13 shall be grants to State, local, or 14 Tribal court systems; and 15 ‘‘(II) not more than $3,500,000 16 shall be grants to eligible entities that 17 are not a State, local, or Tribal court 18 system to provide technical assistance, 19 training, and performance evaluation. 20 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL PRETRIAL REPORTING 21 PROGRAM.—The Assistant Attorney General 22 may not make more than $5,000,000 in grants 23 under subsection (a)(2) for any 3-year period. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2152 IH ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS FOR REPLACEMENT OF MONEY 1 BAIL GRANTS.— 2 ‘‘(1) ACTIVITIES.—Amounts received under a 3 grant under subsection (a)(1)— 4 ‘‘(A) shall be used for developing the long- 5 term, sustainable capacity to perform more ef- 6 fective pretrial practices that include system 7 analysis, training and technical assistance, 8 meeting facilitation, research and performance 9 evaluation, and information technology re- 10 programming; and 11 ‘‘(B) in carrying out pretrial practices, 12 shall seek to incorporate and implement the ele- 13 ments described in paragraph (2). 14 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The elements described in 15 this paragraph are— 16 ‘‘(A) expanding the use of citations instead 17 of custodial arrest; 18 ‘‘(B) replacing the use of payment of 19 money as a condition of pretrial release; 20 ‘‘(C) requiring representation by counsel 21 with adequate training in representing defend- 22 ants at pretrial detention hearing for all defend- 23 ants as soon as feasible after custodial re- 24 straint, but not later than the first hearing at 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2152 IH which a defendant’s liberty is subject to restric- 1 tion; 2 ‘‘(D) providing for— 3 ‘‘(i) a presumption of release in all 4 cases; and 5 ‘‘(ii) limiting the authority to request 6 pretrial detention to those defendants who 7 have been charged with— 8 ‘‘(I) felony offenses involving ac- 9 tual violence against another person 10 or punishable by a maximum term of 11 life imprisonment; 12 ‘‘(II) misdemeanor crimes of do- 13 mestic violence; 14 ‘‘(III) misdemeanor crimes of 15 stalking; or 16 ‘‘(IV) misdemeanor hate crimes; 17 ‘‘(E) ensuring that before detention or any 18 condition of pretrial release more restrictive 19 than release on recognizance is imposed, there 20 is a pretrial release hearing that— 21 ‘‘(i) provides for the right to present 22 evidence, the right to cross-examine ad- 23 verse witnesses, and the right to testify or 24 remain silent; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2152 IH ‘‘(ii) results in a written record ex- 1 plaining the clear and convincing evidence 2 relied on by the judicial officer to justify a 3 detention order or additional condition of 4 release; and 5 ‘‘(iii) occurs as soon as feasible after 6 custodial restraint, but not later than 24 7 hours after custodial restraint if the indi- 8 vidual is being detained, unless the defend- 9 ant requests a continuance; 10 ‘‘(F) ensuring that before pretrial deten- 11 tion is imposed— 12 ‘‘(i) a judicial officer determines by 13 clear and convincing evidence that the indi- 14 vidual poses a high risk of intentional 15 avoidance of prosecution or of seriously 16 physically harming another reasonably 17 identifiable person during the adjudication 18 period; 19 ‘‘(ii) a judicial officer determines by 20 clear and convincing evidence that no con- 21 dition, or combination of conditions, can 22 sufficiently mitigate a high risk of inten- 23 tional avoidance of prosecution or of seri- 24 ously physically harming another reason- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2152 IH ably identifiable person during the adju- 1 dication period; and 2 ‘‘(iii) no less restrictive condition is 3 adequate to address the specific risk or 4 risks identified; 5 ‘‘(G) ensuring that before any condition of 6 pretrial release more restrictive than release on 7 recognizance is imposed— 8 ‘‘(i) a judicial officer determines by 9 clear and convincing evidence that the indi- 10 vidual poses a high risk of intentional 11 avoidance of prosecution or of seriously 12 physically harming another reasonably 13 identifiable person during the adjudication 14 period; and 15 ‘‘(ii) a judicial officer determines by 16 clear and convincing evidence that no less 17 restrictive conditions or pretrial supports 18 can sufficiently mitigate a high risk of in- 19 tentional avoidance of prosecution or of se- 20 riously physically harming another reason- 21 ably identifiable person during the adju- 22 dication period; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2152 IH ‘‘(H) if pretrial release requires imposing 1 additional conditions beyond release on recog- 2 nizance, ensuring that these conditions— 3 ‘‘(i) are nonfinancial, pose no cost to 4 the defendant, and are relevant only to the 5 charge; 6 ‘‘(ii) are the least restrictive condi- 7 tions that would reasonably ensure the ap- 8 pearance of the defendant in court or that 9 would reasonably ensure that the defend- 10 ant does not present an imminent threat of 11 serious physical harm to a reasonably iden- 12 tifiable person; and 13 ‘‘(iii) were set without consideration 14 of or with decreased weight given to crimi- 15 nal convictions older than 2 years; 16 ‘‘(I) ensuring supervision of the conditions 17 of pretrial release is based on proven data out- 18 comes; 19 ‘‘(J) improvements made to the applicable 20 pretrial services agency that, among other func- 21 tions— 22 ‘‘(i) provides support to defendants 23 awaiting trial to effectively meet the condi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2152 IH tions of release placed on them by the judi- 1 cial officer; 2 ‘‘(ii) provides outreach to and part- 3 nership with community-based support 4 structures to connect defendants with sup- 5 portive services; and 6 ‘‘(iii) provides data collection, anal- 7 ysis, and research capabilities to assist the 8 jurisdiction in achieving the benchmarks 9 listed in paragraph (3); 10 ‘‘(K) ensuring an officer of the State, unit 11 of local government, or Indian Tribe that 12 brought the charges against the defendant ap- 13 pears before a committing magistrate, judge, or 14 other judicial officer at all hearings; 15 ‘‘(L) ensuring the constitutional right of a 16 defendant to a speedy trial is effectuated, in- 17 cluding— 18 ‘‘(i) setting specific limits on the time 19 within which either the defendant shall be 20 brought to trial or the case shall be re- 21 solved through a nontrial disposition; 22 ‘‘(ii) providing guidelines for com- 23 puting the time within which the trial must 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2152.IH H2152 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2152 IH be commenced or the case otherwise re- 1 solved; and 2 ‘‘(iii) establishing appropriate con- 3 sequences in the event that the right of the 4 defendant to a speedy trial is denied, and 5 ensuring that under no circumstances a 6 person is detained longer than the max- 7 imum sentence allowable if convicted of the 8 charges; 9 ‘‘(M) ensuri [Text truncated for display. 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