Holding Rioters Accountable Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8301 To withhold a percentage of Federal funding from State and local prosecutors who fail to faithfully prosecute crimes related to protests and riots. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Mrs. LESKO (for herself, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. BUDD, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. YOHO, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. GUEST, and Mr. KELLER) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To withhold a percentage of Federal funding from State and local prosecutors who fail to faithfully prosecute crimes related to protests and riots. 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 ‘‘Holding Rioters Ac- 4 countable Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8301.IH H8301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8301 IH (1) Opportunistic rioters and violent extremists 1 are destroying public and private property with im- 2 punity. 3 (2) Local and Federal law enforcement officers 4 are on the front lines every night attempting to pre- 5 vent the mass destruction of property. 6 (3) Law enforcement officers are doing their 7 jobs by arresting those who are found to be commit- 8 ting the violence and destruction. 9 (4) In certain jurisdictions, however, local and 10 State prosecutors are turning a blind eye to the de- 11 struction and violence. 12 (5) These actions do a disservice to the law en- 13 forcement officers faithfully carrying out their re- 14 sponsibility to uphold the rule of law. 15 (6) The Office of Justice Programs of the De- 16 partment of Justice provided approximately 17 $5,000,000,000 in grants and funding to State and 18 local governments in fiscal year 2020. 19 (7) District attorney and State attorney general 20 offices have abused the use of prosecutorial discre- 21 tion and fail to protect private and public property 22 or fail to confront and address violent riots and 23 looting should not receive Federal support. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8301.IH H8301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8301 IH (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 1 authority for the Attorney General to withhold Federal 2 grant amounts and other funding provided to State and 3 local prosecutors, district attorneys, and State attorney 4 general offices if such prosecutors or offices fail to faith- 5 fully uphold the rule of law by failing to properly prosecute 6 criminal acts committed during riots and protests. 7 SEC. 3. WITHHOLDING OF PERCENTAGE OF DEPARTMENT 8 OF JUSTICE GRANTS AND OTHER FUNDING 9 SOURCES FROM STATE AND LOCAL PROSECU- 10 TORS, DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, AND STATE AT- 11 TORNEYS GENERAL. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may with- 13 hold from all amounts that would otherwise be awarded 14 or made available under part JJ of title I of the Omnibus 15 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 16 10671 et seq.) or a COVID–19 related emergency funding 17 program to a State prosecutor’s office, a district attor- 18 ney’s office, or a State attorney general’s office in a fiscal 19 year by the Department of Justice— 20 (1) not more than 10 percent of such amounts 21 if the Attorney General determines, in accordance 22 with subsection (b), that the office has abused the 23 use of prosecutorial discretion by failing to prosecute 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8301.IH H8301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8301 IH crimes stemming from riots or other violent or de- 1 structive protest activities; and 2 (2) not more than 20 percent of such amounts 3 if the Attorney General determines that, in the 4 course of an abuse of the use of prosecutorial discre- 5 tion determined under paragraph (1), if a crime that 6 was not prosecuted was an assault against a law en- 7 forcement officer. 8 (b) STANDARD FOR DETERMINATION.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State prosecutor’s office, 10 a district attorney’s office, or a State attorney gen- 11 eral’s office shall be determined to have abused the 12 prosecutorial discretion of the office under sub- 13 section (a) if the office refuses, as a general policy 14 rather than on a case-by-case determination, to seek 15 prosecution for crimes committed by individuals en- 16 gaged in or connected to rioting, looting, or other 17 violent or destructive activities, unless such policy is 18 in accordance with an order issued by a court of law. 19 (2) LIMITATION.—A State prosecutor’s office, a 20 district attorney’s office, or a State attorney gen- 21 eral’s office shall not be determined to have abused 22 the prosecutorial discretion of the office under sub- 23 section (a) if the Attorney General determines that 24 such exercise of prosecutorial discretion is properly 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8301.IH H8301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8301 IH made based on the strength of evidence, individual 1 facts in the case, cooperation of the defendant, or 2 other appropriate prosecutorial decision making fac- 3 tors. 4 (3) REQUIREMENT.—The Attorney General 5 shall establish criteria for determining whether a 6 State prosecutor’s office, a district attorney’s office, 7 or a State attorney general’s office has abused the 8 prosecutorial discretion of the office under sub- 9 section (a). 10 (c) REVIEW OF RELEVANT INFORMATION.—In mak- 11 ing a determination under subsection (a), the Attorney 12 General shall— 13 (1) review any arrest statistics, information, or 14 documents, provided by a law enforcement agency 15 that conducted authorized operations connected to a 16 riot or other violent or destructive protest activity; 17 (2) review any prosecution statistics, informa- 18 tion, or documents, provided by the office being re- 19 viewed relating to indictment, dismissal, or convic- 20 tion of individuals charged with any crime connected 21 to a riot or other violent or destructive protest activ- 22 ity; and 23 (3) review any statements, orders, or other in- 24 formation made by an executive political leader with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8301.IH H8301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8301 IH responsibility for appointing or otherwise overseeing 1 the operations and activities of the office being re- 2 viewed. 3 (d) RESTRICTED USE OF FUNDS.—In the case of a 4 State that the Attorney General determines is a State de- 5 scribed in subsection (a) because a local district attorney 6 or prosecutor has abused prosecutorial discretion by fail- 7 ing to prosecute crimes stemming from riots or other vio- 8 lent or destructive protest activities, the State may not— 9 (1) make the amounts made available under a 10 program described in subsection (a) available for use 11 by the local government; and 12 (2) to the maximum extent practicable, expend 13 the amounts made available under a program de- 14 scribed in subsection (a) in any community or loca- 15 tion subject to the jurisdiction of the local govern- 16 ment. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8301.IH H8301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS