Excessive Force Prevention and Accountability Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7206 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the use of excessive force under color of law by law enforcement and correctional officers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2020 Mr. ESPAILLAT 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 use of excessive force under color of law by law enforcement and correctional officers, 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 ‘‘Excessive Force Pre- 4 vention and Accountability Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXCESSIVE FORCE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 7 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 242 the 8 following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7206.IH H7206 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7206 IH ‘‘§ 242A. Excessive force 1 ‘‘(a) INTENTIONAL ACTS.—Whoever, acting under 2 color of law, causes bodily injury to another through the 3 intentional use of excessive force shall be imprisoned not 4 more than ten years; and if death results, shall be impris- 5 oned for any term of years or for life. 6 ‘‘(b) RECKLESS ACTS.—Whoever, acting under color 7 of law, causes bodily injury to another through the reck- 8 less use of excessive force, shall be imprisoned not more 9 than five years; and, if death results, shall be imprisoned 10 not more than 20 years. 11 ‘‘(c) FAILURE TO INTERVENE.— 12 ‘‘(1) Whoever, acting under color of law, is con- 13 temporaneously aware of an ongoing violation of 14 subsection (a) or (b), has the opportunity to stop or 15 prevent the use of excessive force, and chooses not 16 to intervene shall be imprisoned not more than 5 17 years; and if death results, shall be imprisoned not 18 more than 20 years. 19 ‘‘(2) It shall not be a defense under this sub- 20 section that the person who fails to intervene is of 21 a lower rank than, junior in status to, or employed 22 in a different agency or component from the person 23 using excessive force. 24 ‘‘(d) NON-DEFENSES.—In a prosecution for an of- 25 fense under this section, there need not be proof that the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7206.IH H7206 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7206 IH defendant had familiarity with this code section, or had 1 any knowledge that any particular constitutional amend- 2 ment, Federal or State law, or any policy or regulation 3 prohibited the use of force at issue. 4 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.— 5 ‘‘(1) INTENTIONAL.—Purposefully using more 6 force than what the person knows is reasonably nec- 7 essary under all the facts and circumstances. 8 ‘‘(2) RECKLESS.—Consciously disregarding a 9 substantial and unjustifiable risk that excessive force 10 will result from the person’s actions. The risk must 11 be of such a nature and degree that, considering the 12 nature and purpose of the person’s conduct and the 13 circumstances known to that person, its disregard 14 involves a gross deviation from the standard of con- 15 duct that a law-abiding person, acting under color of 16 law, would observe in the person’s situation. 17 ‘‘(3) EXCESSIVE FORCE.—Force that is more 18 than what is reasonably necessary to accomplish a 19 legitimate law enforcement function. In a jail, pris- 20 on, or other correctional setting, force that is more 21 than is reasonably necessary to accomplish a legiti- 22 mate penological function. 23 ‘‘(4) COLOR OF LAW.—A person acts under 24 color of law if the person is performing a legitimate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7206.IH H7206 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7206 IH law enforcement or penological function as an em- 1 ployee, contractor, or otherwise on behalf of, a Fed- 2 eral, State, or local government.’’. 3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 4 The table of sections for chapter 13 of title 18, United 5 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat- 6 ing to section 242 the following: 7 ‘‘242A. Excessive force.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7206.IH H7206 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS