Citizen Justice Restoration Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 9045 To prohibit searches based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or sex, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 21, 2020 Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. JEFFRIES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To prohibit searches based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or sex, 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 ‘‘Citizen Justice Res- 4 toration Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. PRETEXTUAL ACTION UNDER COLOR OF LAW. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—A person, acting under color of 7 State or Federal law, may not base, to any degree, a deci- 8 sion to search, seize, or scrutinize an individual on actual 9 or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or sex 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:35 Jan 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9045.IH H9045 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 9045 IH (including gender, gender identity, and sexual orienta- 1 tion). 2 (b) INADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE.—Except as pro- 3 vided in subsection (c), evidence obtained as a result of 4 such a search or seizure in violation of subsection (a) shall 5 not be admissible to be offered as evidence against a de- 6 fendant— 7 (1) in any Federal or State criminal proceeding, 8 including a proceeding for revocation of parole and 9 probation; or 10 (2) in any civil enforcement proceeding brought 11 by the United States, any State, or any agency or 12 political subdivision thereof. 13 (c) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply in 14 the case of a search or seizure that was motivated by rea- 15 sonable suspicion based on specific and articulable facts 16 that include trustworthy distinguishing information, rel- 17 evant to the locality and timeframe, about an individual 18 who committed an identified crime, which information in- 19 cludes a particular characteristic described in subsection 20 (a), if that distinguishing information is sufficiently spe- 21 cific that it does not describe a substantial subset of indi- 22 viduals sharing that characteristic, or of individuals of the 23 relevant age sharing that characteristic. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:35 Jan 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9045.IH H9045 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 9045 IH SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY OF THE CONSTITUTION, LAWS, AND 1 TREATIES OF THE UNITED STATES ON COL- 2 LATERAL REVIEW. 3 (a) GRANT OF HABEAS CORPUS WHEN JUDGMENT 4 IN ERROR.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 5 an application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of 6 a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State 7 court shall be granted with respect to any Federal claim 8 that was adjudicated on the merits in State court pro- 9 ceedings, which adjudication was in error. 10 (b) NEW CONSTITUTIONAL RULES.—Notwith- 11 standing any other provision of law, in the case of a new 12 rule of constitutional law announced by the United States 13 Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals, or 14 the United States District Court— 15 (1) such rule shall be retroactive to cases on 16 collateral review; 17 (2) an application for a writ of habeas corpus 18 raising a claim under such rule may be made at any 19 time; and 20 (3) a second or successive application for a writ 21 of habeas corpus may be made seeking the benefit 22 of such rule regardless of whether the same claim 23 was presented in a prior application made prior to 24 the announcement of the new rule. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:35 Jan 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9045.IH H9045 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 9045 IH SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 1 (a) LAWS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION.—An ambiguity 2 in a statute that provides protection against discrimina- 3 tion on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, 4 religion, disability, or sex (including gender, gender iden- 5 tity, and sexual orientation) shall be construed in the man- 6 ner that will provide the greatest protection against such 7 discrimination. For purposes of this subsection, the Reli- 8 gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 9 2000bb–1) is not a statute that provides protection 10 against discrimination on the basis of religion. 11 (b) OTHER LAWS.—An ambiguity in a statute de- 12 signed to provide protection for freedom of speech or of 13 the press, or for individual informational privacy, or for 14 the environment, or for consumers, shall be construed in 15 the manner that will provide the greatest protection for 16 freedom of speech or of the press, or for individual infor- 17 mational privacy, for the environment, or for consumers, 18 respectively. 19 (c) CONSTITUTIONAL AVOIDANCE.—No statute de- 20 scribed in this section shall be construed so as to avoid 21 a constitutional question if that construction differs from 22 the construction required under this section. 23 (d) LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 24 tion may be construed to prevent the liberal construction 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:35 Jan 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9045.IH H9045 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 9045 IH of any statute not specified in this section, in order to 1 serve its remedial purpose. 2 SEC. 5. PRIVATE RIGHTS OF ACTION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 4 sion of law, an individual may bring an action in the ap- 5 propriate district court of the United States seeking dam- 6 ages and injunctive relief for a violation of a Federal law 7 or regulation if the individual— 8 (1) is within a class of individuals that the law 9 or regulation was intended to or does benefit; and 10 (2) was harmed by the violation of the law or 11 regulation, 12 regardless of whether the law or regulation provides such 13 a private right of action, or provides other enforcement 14 mechanisms. 15 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply in 16 the case of a Federal law or regulation that explicitly pre- 17 cludes a private right of action. 18 SEC. 6. BOUNTY FOR CITIZEN SUITS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action brought under 20 any citizen suit provision under a Federal law, in which 21 the plaintiff prevails in whole or in part, the court shall 22 award the plaintiff a bounty of $100 to be paid by the 23 defendant against whom the plaintiff prevailed. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:35 Jan 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9045.IH H9045 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 9045 IH (b) MULTIPLE PLAINTIFFS.—In the case of a civil 1 action described in subsection (a) in which there are mul- 2 tiple plaintiffs, the court shall divide the award under sub- 3 section (a) equally among the plaintiffs. 4 (c) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—In the case of 5 a civil action described in subsection (a) in which there 6 are multiple defendants, such defendants are jointly and 7 severally liable for the award described in subsection (a). 8 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 9 If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof 10 to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remain- 11 der of the Act, and the application of such provision to 12 other persons or circumstances shall not be affected there- 13 by. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:35 Jan 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H9045.IH H9045 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS