Law Enforcement Oversight and Reform Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7144 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the reckless use of excessive force under the color of law, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 8, 2020 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. MFUME, Mr. RYAN, and Mr. CARSON of In- diana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the reck- less use of excessive force under the color of law, 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 ‘‘Law Enforcement 4 Oversight and Reform Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7144.IH H7144 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7144 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EXCESSIVE FORCE, RESPIRATORY 1 CHOKEHOLDS UNDER THE COLOR OF LAW. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘§ 250. Excessive force under the color of law 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, being a law enforce- 7 ment officer, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, 8 regulation, or custom, subjects any person in any State, 9 Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District, reck- 10 lessly subjects any person to force in violation of the 11 Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable 12 seizures, shall be punished as provided in subsection (c). 13 ‘‘(b) CHOKEHOLDS.—A respiratory chokehold shall 14 not be considered force that is reasonably necessary under 15 subsection (a). 16 ‘‘(c) PUNISHMENT.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The punishment for an of- 18 fense under this section is a fine of not less than 19 $10,000, imprisonment under paragraph (2), or 20 both. 21 ‘‘(2) TERM OF IMPRISONMENT.—The term of 22 imprisonment for an offense under this section is— 23 ‘‘(A) if death results, for any term of years 24 or for life, but no less than 10 years; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7144.IH H7144 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7144 IH ‘‘(B) if serious bodily injury other than 1 death results, for not more than 10 years, but 2 no less than 5 years; and 3 ‘‘(C) in any other case, for not more than 4 3 years, but no less than one year. 5 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 6 tion shall be construed to limit the Attorney General’s re- 7 sponsibilities or provision of relief under section 210401 8 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 9 of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601). 10 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—The term ‘law enforcement offi- 11 cer’— 12 ‘‘(1) means an official empowered by law to 13 conduct investigations of, to make arrests for, or to 14 detain individuals suspected or convicted of, criminal 15 or civil offenses; and 16 ‘‘(2) includes an official ordered to perform a 17 function described in paragraph (1) by a superior 18 empowered to do so under law, or by Executive 19 order. 20 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—On the date that is one year after the 21 date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, 22 the Attorney General shall submit to the Committees on 23 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the 24 Senate a report that includes a description of and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7144.IH H7144 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7144 IH number of convictions under this section during the pre- 1 vious year.’’. 2 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 3 for chapter 13 of title 18 is amended by adding after the 4 item related to section 249 the following: 5 ‘‘250. Excessive force under the color of law.’’. SEC. 3. APPLICATION TO STATES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State or unit of local govern- 7 ment may not receive funds that the jurisdiction would 8 otherwise receive under subpart 1 of part E of title I of 9 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 10 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) for any fiscal year in which 11 the jurisdiction does not have in place a law that is con- 12 sistent with section 250 of title 18, United States Code, 13 as determined by the Attorney General. 14 (b) SUBSEQUENT ENACTMENT AFTER DENIAL OF 15 FUNDS.—In the case that funds are withheld from a State 16 or other jurisdiction pursuant to subsection (a), and the 17 State or other jurisdiction subsequently enacts or puts in 18 place a law described in subsection (a), and demonstrates 19 substantial efforts to enforce such law, the State or other 20 jurisdiction shall be eligible, in the subsequent fiscal year, 21 to receive the total amount that the State or other juris- 22 diction would have received in each fiscal year for which 23 funds were withheld, not to exceed funds that the jurisdic- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7144.IH H7144 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7144 IH tion would have received during the previous 2-year pe- 1 riod. 2 (c) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply begin- 3 ning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date that 4 is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 5 (d) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 30 days after the 6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 7 shall publish in the Federal Register interim final rules 8 implementing this section. The Attorney General shall fi- 9 nalize such rules not later than 90 days after the date 10 of publication of the interim final rules. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7144.IH H7144 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS