Nonviolent Drug Crime Expungement Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8980 To provide for the resentencing and expungement of nonviolent offenses for individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 16, 2020 Mr. HALL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for the resentencing and expungement of non- violent offenses for individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, 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 ‘‘Nonviolent Drug 4 Crime Expungement Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. RESENTENCING AND EXPUNGEMENT. 6 (a) EXPUNGEMENT OF FEDERAL NONVIOLENT OF- 7 FENSE CONVICTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS NOT UNDER A 8 CRIMINAL JUSTICE SENTENCE.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jan 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8980.IH H8980 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8980 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 1 the date of the enactment of this Act, each Federal 2 district shall conduct a comprehensive review and 3 issue an order expunging each conviction or adju- 4 dication of juvenile delinquency for a Federal non- 5 violent offense entered by each Federal court in the 6 district before the date of enactment of this Act, for 7 each individual adversely impacted by the War on 8 Drugs. Each Federal court shall also issue an order 9 expunging any arrests associated with each ex- 10 punged conviction or adjudication of juvenile delin- 11 quency. 12 (2) NOTIFICATION.—To the extent practicable, 13 each Federal district shall notify each individual 14 whose arrest, conviction, or adjudication of delin- 15 quency has been expunged pursuant to this sub- 16 section that their arrest, conviction, or adjudication 17 of juvenile delinquency has been expunged, and the 18 effect of such expungement. 19 (3) RIGHT TO PETITION COURT FOR 20 EXPUNGEMENT.—At any point after the date of en- 21 actment of this Act, any individual adversely im- 22 pacted by the War on Drugs with a prior conviction 23 or adjudication of juvenile delinquency for a Federal 24 nonviolent offense, who is not under a criminal jus- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8980.IH H8980 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8980 IH tice sentence, may file a motion for expungement. If 1 the expungement of such a conviction or adjudica- 2 tion of juvenile delinquency is required pursuant to 3 this Act, the court shall expunge the conviction or 4 adjudication, and any associated arrests. If the indi- 5 vidual is indigent, counsel shall be appointed to rep- 6 resent the individual in any proceedings under this 7 subsection. 8 (4) SEALED RECORD.—The court shall seal all 9 records related to a conviction or adjudication of ju- 10 venile delinquency that has been expunged under 11 this subsection. Such records may only be made 12 available by further order of the court. 13 (b) SENTENCING REVIEW FOR INDIVIDUALS UNDER 14 A CRIMINAL JUSTICE SENTENCE.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—For any individual adversely 16 impacted by the War on Drugs who is under a 17 criminal justice sentence for a Federal nonviolent of- 18 fense, the court that imposed the sentence shall, on 19 motion of the individual, the Director of the Bureau 20 of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or the 21 court, conduct a sentencing review hearing. If the in- 22 dividual is indigent, counsel shall be appointed to 23 represent the individual in any sentencing review 24 proceedings under this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8980.IH H8980 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8980 IH (2) POTENTIAL REDUCED RESENTENCING.— 1 After a sentencing hearing under paragraph (1), a 2 court shall— 3 (A) expunge each conviction or adjudica- 4 tion of juvenile delinquency for a Federal non- 5 violent offense entered by the court before the 6 date of enactment of this Act, and any associ- 7 ated arrest; 8 (B) vacate the existing sentence or disposi- 9 tion of juvenile delinquency and, if applicable, 10 impose any remaining sentence or disposition of 11 juvenile delinquency on the individual as if this 12 Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 13 were in effect at the time the offense was com- 14 mitted; and 15 (C) order that all records related to a con- 16 viction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency 17 that has been expunged or a sentence or dis- 18 position of juvenile delinquency that has been 19 vacated under this Act be sealed and only be 20 made available by further order of the court. 21 (c) EFFECT OF EXPUNGEMENT.—An individual who 22 has had an arrest, a conviction, or juvenile delinquency 23 adjudication expunged under this section— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8980.IH H8980 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8980 IH (1) may treat the arrest, conviction, or adju- 1 dication as if it never occurred; and 2 (2) shall be immune from any civil or criminal 3 penalties related to perjury, false swearing, or false 4 statements, for a failure to disclose such arrest, con- 5 viction, or adjudication. 6 (d) EXCEPTION.—An individual who at sentencing 7 received an aggravating role adjustment pursuant to 8 United States Sentencing Guideline 3B1.1(a) in relation 9 to a Federal nonviolent offense conviction shall not be eli- 10 gible for expungement of that conviction under this sec- 11 tion. 12 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 13 (1) The term ‘‘expunge’’ means, with respect to 14 an arrest, a conviction, or a juvenile delinquency ad- 15 judication, the removal of the record of such arrest, 16 conviction, or adjudication from each official index 17 or public record. 18 (2) The term ‘‘under a criminal justice sen- 19 tence’’ means, with respect to an individual, that the 20 individual is serving a term of probation, parole, su- 21 pervised release, imprisonment, official detention, 22 pre-release custody, or work release, pursuant to a 23 sentence or disposition of juvenile delinquency. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8980.IH H8980 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8980 IH (3) The term ‘‘individual adversely impacted by 1 the War on Drugs’’ means an individual who has 2 been arrested for or convicted of the sale, possession, 3 use, manufacture, or cultivation of cannabis, co- 4 caine, or crack (except for a conviction involving dis- 5 tribution to a minor), or whose parent, sibling, 6 spouse, or child has been arrested for or convicted 7 of such an offense. 8 (4) The term ‘‘nonviolent offense’’means an of- 9 fense that— 10 (A) does not have as an element the use, 11 attempted use, or threatened use of physical 12 force against the person or property of another; 13 or 14 (B) is not a felony that by its nature in- 15 volves a substantial risk that physical force 16 against the person or property of another may 17 be used in the course of committing the offense. 18 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 19 GRANTS. 20 Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after 21 the date that is one year after the date of enactment of 22 this Act, in order to be eligible for a grant made by the 23 Department of Justice, a State shall have in place a resen- 24 tencing and expungement program that is substantially 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8980.IH H8980 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8980 IH similar to the program under section 2 for nonviolent of- 1 fenses under the laws of that State. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8980.IH H8980 dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS