COVID–19 Correctional Facility Emergency Response Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3720 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to establish the Pandemic Jail and Prison Emergency Response grant pro- grams, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 13, 2020 Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to establish the Pandemic Jail and Prison Emergency Response grant programs, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘COVID–19 Correc- 4 tional Facility Emergency Response Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3720 IS SEC. 2. PANDEMIC CORRECTIONAL FACILITY EMERGENCY 1 RESPONSE. 2 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 3 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 4 by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘PART OO—PANDEMIC CORRECTIONAL FACILITY 6 EMERGENCY RESPONSE 7 ‘‘SEC. 3061. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 8 ‘‘(a) IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF VULNERABLE AND 9 LOW RISK INDIVIDUALS.—The purpose of the grant pro- 10 gram under section 3062 is to provide for the testing, ini- 11 tiation and transfer to treatment in the community, and 12 provision of services in the community by States and units 13 of local government as they relate to preventing, detecting, 14 and stopping the spread of COVID–19 in correctional fa- 15 cilities. 16 ‘‘(b) PRETRIAL CITATION AND RELEASE.— 17 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows: 18 ‘‘(A) With the dramatic growth in pretrial 19 detention resulting in county and city correc- 20 tional facilities regularly exceeding capacity, 21 such correctional facilities may serve to rapidly 22 increase the spread of COVID–19, as facilities 23 that hold large numbers of individuals in 24 congregant living situations may promote the 25 spread of COVID–19. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3720 IS ‘‘(B) While individuals arrested and proc- 1 essed at local correctional facilities may only be 2 held for hours or days, exposure to large num- 3 ber of individuals in holding cells and court- 4 rooms promotes the spread of COVID–19. 5 ‘‘(C) Pretrial detainees and individuals in 6 correctional facilities are then later released 7 into the community having being exposed to 8 COVID–19. 9 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the grant pro- 10 gram under section 3063 is to substantially increase 11 the use of risk-based citation release for all individ- 12 uals who do not present a public safety risk. 13 ‘‘SEC. 3062. IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF VULNERABLE AND 14 LOW RISK INDIVIDUALS. 15 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General shall 16 carry out a grant program to make grants to States and 17 units of local government that operate correctional facili- 18 ties, to establish and implement policies and procedures 19 to prevent, detect, and stop the presence and spread of 20 COVID–19 among arrestees, detainees, inmates, correc- 21 tional facility staff, and visitors to the facilities. 22 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Eligible applicants under 24 this section are States and units of local government 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3720 IS that release or have a plan to release the persons de- 1 scribed in paragraph (2) from custody in order to 2 ensure that, not later than May 12, 2020, the total 3 population of arrestees, detainees, and inmates at a 4 correctional facility is not more than 80 percent of 5 the rated capacity of the correctional facility. 6 ‘‘(2) PERSONS DESCRIBED.—A person de- 7 scribed in this paragraph is a person who— 8 ‘‘(A) does not pose a risk of serious, immi- 9 nent injury to a reasonably identifiable person; 10 or 11 ‘‘(B) is— 12 ‘‘(i) not less than 50 years of age; 13 ‘‘(ii) an individual with serious chron- 14 ic medical conditions, including heart dis- 15 ease, cancer, diabetes, HIV, sickle cell ane- 16 mia, a neurological disease that interferes 17 with the ability to cough or breathe, chron- 18 ic lung disease, asthma, or respiratory ill- 19 ness; 20 ‘‘(iii) a pregnant woman; 21 ‘‘(iv) an individual who is 22 immunocompromised or has a weakened 23 immune system; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3720 IS ‘‘(v) an individual who has a health 1 condition or disability that makes them 2 vulnerable to COVID–19. 3 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZED USES.—A grantee shall use 4 amounts provided under a grant under this section to— 5 ‘‘(1) test all arrestees, detainees, and inmates 6 for COVID–19; 7 ‘‘(2) for each arrestee, detainee, or inmate who 8 has a positive test for COVID–19, initiate treatment 9 for COVID–19 and transfer such an individual for 10 an appropriate treatment at external medical facil- 11 ity, as needed; 12 ‘‘(3) test for COVID–19— 13 ‘‘(A) correctional facility staff; 14 ‘‘(B) volunteers; 15 ‘‘(C) visitors, including family members 16 and attorneys; 17 ‘‘(D) court personnel that have regular 18 contact with arrestees, detainees, and inmates; 19 ‘‘(E) law enforcement officers who trans- 20 port arrestees, detainees, and inmates; and 21 ‘‘(F) personnel outside the correctional fa- 22 cility who provide medical treatment to 23 arrestees, detainees, and inmates; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3720 IS ‘‘(4) curtail booking and in-facility processing 1 for individuals who have committed technical parole 2 or probation violations; and 3 ‘‘(5) provide transition and reentry support 4 services to individuals released pursuant to this sec- 5 tion, including programs that— 6 ‘‘(A) increase access to and participation 7 in reentry services; 8 ‘‘(B) promote a reduction in recidivism 9 rates; 10 ‘‘(C) facilitate engagement in educational 11 programs, job training, or employment; 12 ‘‘(D) place reentering individuals in safe 13 and sanitary temporary transitional housing; 14 ‘‘(E) facilitate the enrollment of reentering 15 individuals with a history of substance use dis- 16 order in medication-assisted treatment and a 17 referral to overdose prevention services, mental 18 health services, or other medical services; and 19 ‘‘(F) facilitate family reunification or sup- 20 port services, as needed. 21 ‘‘SEC. 3063. PRETRIAL CITATION AND RELEASE. 22 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General shall 23 carry out a grant program to make grants to eligible appli- 24 cants for the purposes set forth in section 3061(b)(2). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3720 IS ‘‘(b) PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY.—Eligible applicants 1 under this section are States and units of local government 2 that implement or continue operation of a program de- 3 scribed in subsection (c)(1) and not fewer than 2 of the 4 other programs enumerated in such subsection. 5 ‘‘(c) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—A grantee shall use 6 amounts provided under a grant under this section for 7 programs that provide for the following: 8 ‘‘(1) Adopting and operating a cite-and-release 9 process for individuals who are suspected of commit- 10 ting misdemeanor and felony offenses and who do 11 not pose a risk of serious, imminent injury to a rea- 12 sonably identifiable person. 13 ‘‘(2) Curtailing booking and in-facility proc- 14 essing for individuals who have committed technical 15 parole or probation violations. 16 ‘‘(3) Ensuring that defense counsel is appointed 17 at the earliest hearing that could result in pretrial 18 detention so that low risk defendants are not unnec- 19 essarily further exposed to COVID–19. 20 ‘‘(4) Establishing early review of charges by an 21 experienced prosecutor, so only arrestees and detain- 22 ees who will be charged are detained. 23 ‘‘(5) Providing appropriate victims’ services 24 supports and safety-focused residential accommoda- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3720 IS tions for victims and community members who have 1 questions or concerns about releases described in 2 this subsection. 3 ‘‘SEC. 3064. REPORT. 4 ‘‘Not later than 2 years after the date on which 5 grants are initially made under this part, the Attorney 6 General shall submit to Congress a report on grants under 7 this part, which shall include— 8 ‘‘(1) the number of grants made, the number of 9 grantees, and the amount of funding distributed to 10 each grantee pursuant to this section; 11 ‘‘(2) the location of each correctional facility 12 where activities are carried out using grant amounts; 13 and 14 ‘‘(3) the number of persons who have benefitted 15 from early release, disaggregated by type of offense, 16 age, race, and ethnicity. 17 ‘‘SEC. 3065. DEFINITION. 18 ‘‘For purposes of this part: 19 ‘‘(1) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—The term ‘cor- 20 rectional facility’ includes a juvenile facility. 21 ‘‘(2) COVID–19.—The term ‘COVID–19’ 22 means a disease caused by severe acute respiratory 23 syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV–2). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3720 IS ‘‘(3) DETAINEE; ARRESTEE; INMATE.—The 1 terms ‘detainee’, ‘arrestee’, and ‘inmate’ each in- 2 clude juveniles. 3 ‘‘SEC. 3066. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 4 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated 5 $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 and 2022 6 to carry out sections 3062 and 3063.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS