State Attorneys General Empowerment Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7536 To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, to permit the attorney general of a State to bring a civil action to eliminate a pattern or practice of violating rights, privileges, or immuni- ties secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 9, 2020 Ms. KELLY of Illinois (for herself, Mr. RICHMOND, and Mr. RASKIN) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary A BILL To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, to permit the attorney general of a State to bring a civil action to eliminate a pattern or practice of violating rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, 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 ‘‘State Attorneys Gen- 4 eral Empowerment Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jul 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7536.IH H7536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7536 IH SEC. 2. CAUSE OF ACTION REGARDING POLICE PATTERN 1 OR PRACTICE. 2 (a) STATE ENFORCEMENT.—Section 210401(b) of 3 the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 4 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(b)) is amended by inserting after 5 ‘‘the Attorney General, for or in the name of the United 6 States’’ the following: ‘‘, or the attorney general of any 7 State, for or in the name of that State, to the extent the 8 violation has occurred within that State’’. 9 (b) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—Section 210401 of the 10 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 11 (34 U.S.C. 12601) is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘paragraph 13 (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(c) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the 16 authority in subsection (b), the Attorney General or an 17 attorney general of a State may require by subpoena the 18 production of all information, documents, reports, an- 19 swers, records, accounts, papers, and other data in any 20 medium (including electronically stored information), as 21 well as any tangible thing and documentary evidence, and 22 the attendance and testimony of witnesses necessary in the 23 performance of the Attorney General or attorney general 24 of a State under subsection (b). Such a subpoena, in the 25 case of contumacy or refusal to obey, shall be enforceable 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jul 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7536.IH H7536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7536 IH by order of any appropriate district court of the United 1 States.’’. 2 (c) DATA ON EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE.—Section 3 210402(a) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforce- 4 ment Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12602(a)) is amended— 5 (1) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General’’ and in- 6 serting the following: 7 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL COLLECTION OF DATA.—The 8 Attorney General’’; and 9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(2) STATE COLLECTION OF DATA.—The attor- 11 ney general of a State may, through appropriate 12 means, acquire data about the use of excessive force 13 by law enforcement officers and such data may be 14 used by the attorney general in conducting investiga- 15 tions under section 210401.’’. 16 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.— 17 (1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney Gen- 18 eral may award a grant to a State to assist the 19 State in conducting pattern and practice investiga- 20 tions at the State level. 21 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—In order for a State to be el- 22 igible for a grant under paragraph (1), the attorney 23 general of the State, or similar State official, shall 24 have the authority to conduct pattern and practice 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jul 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7536.IH H7536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7536 IH investigations, as described in section 210401 of the 1 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 2 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601), of governmental agencies 3 in the State. 4 (3) APPLICATION.—A State seeking a grant 5 under paragraph (1) shall submit an application in 6 such form, at such time, and containing such infor- 7 mation as the Attorney General may require. 8 (4) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap- 9 propriated $100,000,000 to the Attorney General for 10 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022 to carry out 11 this subsection. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jul 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7536.IH H7536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS