Marijuana Justice Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 597 To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for a new rule regarding the application of the Act to marihuana, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. WARREN, Ms. HARRIS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for a new rule regarding the application of the Act to mari- huana, 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 ‘‘Marijuana Justice Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DE-SCHEDULING MARIHUANA. 6 (a) MARIHUANA REMOVED FROM SCHEDULE OF 7 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.—Subsection (c) of schedule 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 597 IS I of section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 1 U.S.C. 812) is amended— 2 (1) by striking ‘‘marihuana’’; and 3 (2) by striking ‘‘tetrahydrocannabinols’’. 4 (b) REMOVAL OF PROHIBITION ON IMPORT AND EX- 5 PORT.—Section 1010(b) of the Controlled Substances Im- 6 port and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960) is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (1)— 8 (A) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 9 after the semicolon; 10 (B) by striking subparagraph (G); and 11 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as 12 subparagraph (G); 13 (2) in paragraph (2)— 14 (A) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 15 after the semicolon; 16 (B) by striking subparagraph (G); and 17 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as 18 subparagraph (G); 19 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘paragraphs 20 (1), (2), and (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (1) and 21 (2)’’; 22 (4) by striking paragraph (4); and 23 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and 24 (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 597 IS (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO CONTROLLED 1 SUBSTANCES ACT.—The Controlled Substances Act (21 2 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended— 3 (1) in section 102(44) (21 U.S.C. 802(44)), by 4 striking ‘‘marihuana,’’; 5 (2) in section 401(b) (21 U.S.C. 841(b))— 6 (A) in paragraph (1)— 7 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 8 (I) in clause (vi), by inserting 9 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 10 (II) by striking (vii); and 11 (III) by redesignating clause 12 (viii) as clause (vii); 13 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 14 (I) by striking clause (vii); and 15 (II) by redesignating clause (viii) 16 as clause (vii); 17 (iii) in subparagraph (C), in the first 18 sentence, by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A), 19 (B), and (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara- 20 graphs (A) and (B)’’; 21 (iv) by striking subparagraph (D); 22 (v) by redesignating subparagraph (E) 23 as subparagraph (D); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 597 IS (vi) in subparagraph (D)(i), as so re- 1 designated, by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (C) 2 and (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 3 (C)’’; 4 (B) by striking paragraph (4); and 5 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), 6 and (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respec- 7 tively; 8 (3) in section 402(c)(2)(B) (21 U.S.C. 9 842(c)(2)(B)), by striking ‘‘, marihuana,’’; 10 (4) in section 403(d)(1) (21 U.S.C. 843(d)(1)), 11 by striking ‘‘, marihuana,’’; 12 (5) in section 418(a) (21 U.S.C. 859(a)), by 13 striking the last sentence; 14 (6) in section 419(a) (21 U.S.C. 860(a)), by 15 striking the last sentence; 16 (7) in section 422(d) (21 U.S.C. 863(d))— 17 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 18 by striking ‘‘marijuana,’’; and 19 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘, such 20 as a marihuana cigarette,’’; and 21 (8) in section 516(d) (21 U.S.C. 886(d)), by 22 striking ‘‘section 401(b)(6)’’ each place the term ap- 23 pears and inserting ‘‘section 401(b)(5)’’. 24 (d) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 597 IS (1) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM DRUG CONTROL 1 ACT OF 1986.—The National Forest System Drug 2 Control Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 559b et seq.) is 3 amended— 4 (A) in section 15002(a) (16 U.S.C. 5 559b(a)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; 6 (B) in section 15003(2) (16 U.S.C. 7 559c(2)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’; 8 and 9 (C) in section 15004(2) (16 U.S.C. 10 559d(2)) by striking ‘‘marijuana and other’’. 11 (2) INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS.—Sec- 12 tion 2516 of title 18, United States Code, is amend- 13 ed— 14 (A) in subsection (1)(e), by striking ‘‘mari- 15 huana,’’; and 16 (B) in subsection (2) by striking ‘‘mari- 17 huana,’’. 18 SEC. 3. INELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN FUNDS. 19 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 20 (1) the term ‘‘covered State’’ means a State 21 that has not enacted a statute legalizing marijuana 22 in the State; 23 (2) the term ‘‘disproportionate arrest rate’’ 24 means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 597 IS (A) the percentage of minority individuals 1 arrested for a marijuana related offense in a 2 State is higher than the percentage of the non- 3 minority individual population of the State, as 4 determined by the most recent census data; or 5 (B) the percentage of low-income individ- 6 uals arrested for a marijuana offense in a State 7 is higher than the percentage of the population 8 of the State that are not low-income individ- 9 uals, as determined by the most recent census 10 data; 11 (3) the term ‘‘disproportionate incarceration 12 rate’’ means the percentage of minority individuals 13 incarcerated for a marijuana related offense in a 14 State is higher than the percentage of the non-mi- 15 nority individual population of the State, as deter- 16 mined by the most recent census data; 17 (4) the term ‘‘low-income individual’’ means 18 and individual whose taxable income (as defined in 19 section 63 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) is 20 equal to or below the maximum dollar amount for 21 the 15 percent rate bracket applicable to the indi- 22 vidual under section 1 of the Internal Revenue Code 23 of 1986; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 597 IS (5) the term ‘‘marijuana’’ has the meaning 1 given the term ‘‘marihuana’’ in section 102 of the 2 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802); and 3 (6) the term ‘‘minority individual’’ means an in- 4 dividual who is a member of a racial or ethnic mi- 5 nority group. 6 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN FUNDS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year begin- 8 ning after the date of enactment of this Act in which 9 the Attorney General, acting through the Director of 10 the Bureau of Justice Assistance, determines that a 11 covered State has a disproportionate arrest rate or 12 a disproportionate incarceration rate for marijuana 13 offenses, the covered State— 14 (A) shall not be eligible to receive any Fed- 15 eral funds for the construction or staffing of a 16 prison or jail; and 17 (B) shall be subject to not more than a 10- 18 percent reduction of the funds that would oth- 19 erwise be allocated for that fiscal year to the 20 covered State under subpart 1 of part E of title 21 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 22 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), 23 whether characterized as the Edward Byrne 24 Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 597 IS Assistance Programs, the Local Government 1 Law Enforcement Block Grants Program, the 2 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 3 Grant Program, or otherwise. 4 (2) FUNDS FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMMING.—For 5 purposes of paragraph (1)(A), Federal funds for the 6 construction or staffing of a prison or jail shall not 7 include Federal funds used by a prison or jail to 8 carry out recidivism reduction programming or drug 9 addiction treatment. 10 (3) REALLOCATION.—Any amounts not award- 11 ed to a covered State because of a determination 12 under paragraph (1) shall be deposited in the Com- 13 munity Reinvestment Fund established under section 14 4. 15 (c) EXPUNGEMENT OF MARIJUANA OFFENSE CON- 16 VICTIONS.—Each Federal court shall issue an order 17 expunging each conviction for a marijuana use or posses- 18 sion offense entered by the court before the date of enact- 19 ment of this Act. 20 (d) SENTENCING REVIEW.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—For any individual who was 22 sentenced to a term of imprisonment for a Federal 23 criminal offense involving marijuana before the date 24 of enactment of this Act and is still serving such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 597 IS term of imprisonment, the court that imposed the 1 sentence, shall, on motion of the individual, the Di- 2 rector of the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the 3 Government, or the court, conduct a sentencing 4 hearing. 5 (2) POTENTIAL REDUCED RESENTENCING.— 6 After a sentencing hearing under paragraph (1), a 7 court may impose a sentence on the individual as if 8 this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 9 were in effect at the time the offense was committed. 10 (e) RIGHT OF ACTION.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is ag- 12 grieved by a disproportionate arrest rate or a dis- 13 proportionate incarceration rate of a State may 14 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 15 of the United States. 16 (2) RELIEF.—In a civil action brought under 17 this subsection in which the plaintiff prevails, the 18 court shall— 19 (A) grant all necessary equitable and legal 20 relief, including declaratory relief; and 21 (B) issue an order requiring the Attorney 22 General, acting through the Director of the Bu- 23 reau of Justice Assistance, to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 597 IS (i) declare the State to be ineligible to 1 receive any Federal funds for the construc- 2 tion or staffing of a prison or jail in ac- 3 cordance with subsection (b)(1)(A); and 4 (ii) reduce grant funding of the State 5 in accordance with subsection (b)(1)(B). 6 SEC. 4. COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT FUND. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 8 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 9 ‘‘Community Reinvestment Fund’’ (referred to in this sec- 10 tion as the ‘‘Fund’’). 11 (b) DEPOSITS.—The Fund shall consist of— 12 (1) any amounts not awarded to a covered 13 State because of a determination under section 14 3(b)(1); and 15 (2) any amounts otherwise appropriated to the 16 Fund. 17 (c) USE OF FUND AMOUNTS.—Amounts in the Fund 18 shall be available to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 19 Development to establish a grant program to reinvest in 20 communities most affected by the war on drugs, which 21 shall include providing grants to impacted communities for 22 programs such as— 23 (1) job training; 24 (2) reentry services; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 597 IS (3) expenses related to the expungement of con- 1 victions; 2 (4) public libraries; 3 (5) community centers; 4 (6) programs and opportunities dedicated to 5 youth; 6 (7) the special purpose fund discussed below; 7 and 8 (8) health education programs. 9 (d) AVAILABILITY OF FUND AMOUNTS.—Amounts in 10 the Fund shall be available without fiscal year limitation. 11 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 13 $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2042. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S597.IS S597 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS