Enhancing Oversight to End Discrimination in Policing Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1989 To reform pattern or practice investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 9, 2021 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To reform pattern or practice investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, 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 ‘‘Enhancing Oversight 4 to End Discrimination in Policing Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONSENT DECREE PROCEDURES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, acting 7 through the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights 8 Division of the Department of Justice, shall— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1989 IS (1) modify the procedures for civil consent de- 1 crees and consent agreements in civil litigation with 2 State and local governmental entities arising from 3 pattern or practice investigations under section 4 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law En- 5 forcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601) to ensure 6 that— 7 (A) the use of consent decrees and consent 8 agreements foster the creation and use of rem- 9 edies that are not limited to law enforcement 10 reforms, such as mental health support or com- 11 munity-based restorative justice mechanisms; 12 and 13 (B) community oversight requirements, 14 such as a community oversight body described 15 in subsection (b), are incorporated, when pos- 16 sible, into the terms of consent decrees and con- 17 sent agreements; and 18 (2) in carrying out paragraph (1)(A), request 19 guidance from the heads of other relevant agencies, 20 such as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel- 21 opment and the Secretary of Health and Human 22 Services, on the efficacy of the alternative remedies 23 described in paragraph (1)(A). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1989 IS (b) COMMUNITY OVERSIGHT BODY DESCRIBED.—A 1 community oversight body described in this subsection is 2 an oversight entity that— 3 (1) is comprised of individuals who— 4 (A) represent the communities and organi- 5 zations within the State or unit of local govern- 6 ment to which the consent decree or consent 7 agreement applies; and 8 (B) do not work, or have not previously 9 worked, in a law enforcement capacity; and 10 (2) has a role of— 11 (A) ensuring compliance with the provi- 12 sions of the consent decree or consent agree- 13 ment; and 14 (B) fostering transparency in the adminis- 15 tration and personnel of the law enforcement 16 agency; and 17 (3) has the authority to— 18 (A) ask questions of the law enforcement 19 agency; 20 (B) obtain documents, data, and informa- 21 tion from the law enforcement agency; and 22 (C) make recommendations— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1989 IS (i) for modifications to the provisions 1 of the consent decree or consent agree- 2 ment, as necessary; and 3 (ii) to the law enforcement agency or 4 governmental officials overseeing the agen- 5 cy about changes in policing services. 6 SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR PATTERN OR PRACTICE INVESTIGA- 7 TIONS. 8 (a) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—There are authorized to 9 be appropriated, in addition to any other amounts author- 10 ized, $445,000,000 to the Civil Rights Division of the De- 11 partment of Justice for each of fiscal years 2021 through 12 2030, of which not less than $100,000,000 shall be made 13 available each fiscal year for enforcement and technical 14 assistance under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Con- 15 trol and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 16 12601). 17 (b) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—Section 210401(a) of 18 the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 19 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘in- 20 cluding a prosecutor, court, or other agency involved in 21 the administration of justice,’’ before ‘‘to engage’’. 22 (c) AUTHORITY FOR STATE INVESTIGATIONS.—Sec- 23 tion 210401(b) of the Violent Crime Control and Law En- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1989 IS forcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(b)) is amend- 1 ed— 2 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1) FEDERAL ENFORCE- 3 MENT.—’’ before ‘‘Whenever’’; 4 (2) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by strik- 5 ing ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 6 and 7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(2) STATE ENFORCEMENT.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever an attorney 10 general of a State has reasonable cause to be- 11 lieve that a violation of subsection (a) has oc- 12 curred by a governmental authority, or agent 13 thereof, of the State, including a prosecutor or 14 other agency involved in the administration of 15 justice, the attorney general, or another official 16 or agency designated by a State, may in a civil 17 action brought in any appropriate district court 18 of the United States obtain appropriate equi- 19 table and declaratory relief to eliminate the pat- 20 tern or practice. 21 ‘‘(B) PREVENTION OF CONFLICTS OF IN- 22 TEREST.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1989 IS ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No official or 1 agency may be designated under subpara- 2 graph (A) if— 3 ‘‘(I) upon such designation, the 4 Attorney General determines there is 5 reason to believe— 6 ‘‘(aa) the official or agency 7 would be unable to conduct an 8 independent investigation; or 9 ‘‘(bb) a conflict of interest 10 between the official or agency 11 and the jurisdiction under inves- 12 tigation exists; or 13 ‘‘(II) the official is employed by 14 or the agency is within, as the case 15 may be, the jurisdiction under inves- 16 tigation. 17 ‘‘(ii) INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION 18 REQUIRED.—In the case of a jurisdiction 19 under investigation that is a State-wide of- 20 fice, an independent organization that is 21 unaffiliated with State or local government 22 shall be designated under subparagraph 23 (A). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1989 IS ‘‘(C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The At- 1 torney General shall provide technical assist- 2 ance and training to States and units of local 3 government to assist States and units of local 4 governments in carrying out pattern or practice 5 investigations and cases. 6 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 7 in this paragraph shall be construed to preclude 8 a Federal investigation or other enforcement 9 under this section during the course of a State- 10 led investigation or claim.’’. 11 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.— 12 (1) STATE DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 13 term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States, the 14 District of Columbia, and each commonwealth, terri- 15 tory, or possession of the United States. 16 (2) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General 17 may award grants to States to assist such States in 18 pursuing pattern or practice investigations and cases 19 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control 20 and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 21 12601). 22 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded under 23 this subsection may be used by a State to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1989 IS (A) conduct pattern or practice investiga- 1 tions and cases under section 210401 of the 2 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 3 Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601); 4 (B) implement and enforce law enforce- 5 ment reforms to address patterns and practices 6 identified under such section 210401; and 7 (C) develop non-law enforcement programs 8 that reduce dependence on law enforcement 9 agencies, such as funding social workers or be- 10 havioral health crisis experts. 11 (4) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 12 grant under this subsection, a State shall submit an 13 application to the Attorney General that— 14 (A) contains clearly defined and measur- 15 able objectives for the grant funds; 16 (B) describes how the State intends to use 17 the grant funds to pursue, implement, and en- 18 force pattern or practice investigations and 19 cases under section 210401 of the Violent 20 Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 21 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601); 22 (C) outlines the qualifications and training 23 of the attorneys, staff, and other personnel who 24 are, or who may be, assigned to lead or assist 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1989 IS pattern or practice investigations and cases; 1 and 2 (D) demonstrates how the State will rem- 3 edy patterns or practices of unlawful law en- 4 forcement conduct through the creation of com- 5 munity-based programs designed to address un- 6 derlying challenges leading to law enforcement 7 interaction. 8 (5) REQUIRED REPORTING.— 9 (A) GRANTEE REPORTING.—In each fiscal 10 year a State receives a grant under this sub- 11 section, the State shall submit to the Attorney 12 General a report detailing— 13 (i) how the grant funds were used; 14 and 15 (ii) the progress made towards ad- 16 dressing patterns and practices identified 17 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime 18 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 19 (34 U.S.C. 12601). 20 (B) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 21 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 22 Act, and once each year thereafter, the Attor- 23 ney General shall submit to the Committee on 24 the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1989 IS on the Judiciary of the House of Representa- 1 tives a report on the grant program established 2 under this subsection, which shall include— 3 (i) a detailed summary of how grant 4 funds awarded under the grant program 5 were used; and 6 (ii) recommendations, if any, for im- 7 provements needed for the grant program. 8 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 9 There are authorized to be appropriated to the At- 10 torney General $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 11 2021 through 2030 to carry out this subsection. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:47 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1989.IS S1989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS