Economic Inclusion Civil Rights Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4183 To amend section 1977 of the Revised Statutes to protect equal rights under law. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2023 Mr. RASKIN (for himself, Mr. IVEY, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Ms. NOR- TON, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend section 1977 of the Revised Statutes to protect equal rights under law. 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 ‘‘Economic Inclusion 4 Civil Rights Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. EQUAL RIGHTS. 6 Section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 7 1981) is amended to read as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4183.IH H4183 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4183 IH ‘‘SEC. 1977. EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER LAW. 1 ‘‘(a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the decisions of 2 the Supreme Court of the United States in Comcast Corp. 3 v. National Ass’n of African American-Owned Media, 140 4 S. Ct. 1009 (2020), and General Building Contractors 5 Ass’n v. Pennsylvania, 458 U.S. 375 (1982), have weak- 6 ened the scope and effectiveness of Federal civil rights 7 protections. 8 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE AND AUTHORITY.— 9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—This section is an exercise 10 of congressional authority under section 5 of the 11 14th Amendment, section 2 of the 13th Amendment, 12 and the Commerce Clause of section 8 of article I, 13 of the Constitution of the United States. 14 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is 15 to protect civil rights, including to enact into law key 16 principles set forth in portions of the concurring 17 opinion of Justice Ginsburg in Comcast Corp. v. Na- 18 tional Ass’n of African American-Owned Media, 140 19 S. Ct. 1009 (2020), and the dissenting opinion of 20 Justice Marshall in General Building Contractors 21 Ass’n v. Pennsylvania, 458 U.S. 375 (1982). 22 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 ‘‘(1) ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.—The term ‘economic 24 activity’ shall have the broadest meaning permissible 25 under the Constitution, including— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4183.IH H4183 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4183 IH ‘‘(A) making, performing, and enforcing 1 contracts; 2 ‘‘(B) producing, consuming, browsing for, 3 shopping for, or waiting for goods or services; 4 ‘‘(C) soliciting, selecting, hiring, or dealing 5 with a vendor, supplier, contractor, or subcon- 6 tractor; 7 ‘‘(D) dealing with or serving (including re- 8 fusing to serve) a shopper, patron, or customer; 9 ‘‘(E) accessing, processing, or granting (in- 10 cluding denying) access to loans, credit, bond- 11 ing, or insurance; and 12 ‘‘(F) purchasing, leasing, selling, holding, 13 or conveying real or personal property, 14 whether the activities described in this paragraph 15 occur on the internet, at a physical location, or 16 through any other medium. 17 ‘‘(2) FULL AND EQUAL BENEFIT AND ENJOY- 18 MENT OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.—The term ‘full and 19 equal benefit and enjoyment of economic activity’ 20 means the benefit or enjoyment, respectively, of the 21 same benefits, privileges, advantages, preferences, 22 opportunities, terms, conditions, goods, services, fa- 23 cilities, accommodations, service and treatment, em- 24 ployment, and rights to make, enforce, perform, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4183.IH H4183 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4183 IH modify, and terminate contracts, and freedom from 1 intimidation, harassment, and profiling as white citi- 2 zens benefit from or enjoy, respectively. 3 ‘‘(3) SECURITY OF PERSON AND PROPERTY.— 4 The term ‘security’, used with respect to person and 5 property, includes protection from physical harm 6 and a threat of harm to one’s body or property, and 7 protection against exposure to or a disproportionate 8 burden from the negative human health and environ- 9 mental impacts of pollution or an environmental 10 hazard. 11 ‘‘(d) STATEMENT OF EQUAL RIGHTS.—All persons 12 within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the 13 same right in every State and territory as is enjoyed by 14 white citizens to the full and equal benefit and enjoyment 15 of economic activity, to security of their persons and prop- 16 erty, to make and enforce contracts, including carrying 17 out the contract formation process, and to sue, be parties, 18 and give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all 19 laws and proceedings, and shall be subject, in comparison 20 to white citizens, to like punishment, pains, penalties, 21 taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no 22 other. 23 ‘‘(e) DISCRIMINATORY EFFECTS ALSO PROHIB- 24 ITED.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4183.IH H4183 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 4183 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person shall use a cri- 1 terion, method of administration, practice, or policy 2 that has the effect of unjustifiably subjecting an in- 3 dividual to discrimination in violation of subsection 4 (d). 5 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION.—A challenged criterion, 6 method of administration, practice, or policy that 7 has an effect described in paragraph (1) shall be un- 8 justifiable unless its user demonstrates that— 9 ‘‘(A) the use serves a legitimate purpose, 10 which is both required by a substantial business 11 necessity and not a pretext for discrimination; 12 and 13 ‘‘(B) if the complaining party proffers an 14 alternative, that that alternative is either incon- 15 sistent with substantial business necessity or 16 would produce an equal or greater discrimina- 17 tory effect on the basis of a classification pro- 18 tected by subsection (d). 19 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON SUBSTANTIAL BUSINESS 20 NECESSITY DEFENSE.—A demonstration that a cri- 21 terion, method of administration, practice, or policy 22 is required by a substantial business necessity may 23 not be used as a defense against a claim of inten- 24 tional discrimination under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4183.IH H4183 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 4183 IH ‘‘(f) PROTECTION AGAINST IMPAIRMENT.—All rights 1 protected by this section are protected against impairment 2 by nongovernmental discrimination and impairment under 3 color of State law. 4 ‘‘(g) BURDEN OF PROOF FOR DISCRIMINATORY 5 TREATMENT ACTIONS.—The equal rights guaranteed 6 under subsection (d) shall be considered to be denied when 7 the complaining party demonstrates that race was a moti- 8 vating factor for the denial of such rights even though 9 other factors also motivated the denial. A denial of equal 10 rights guaranteed under subsection (d) may be established 11 with comparator evidence or any other evidence that suffi- 12 ciently demonstrates a denial of such rights, including evi- 13 dence of conduct that a reasonable person would find ra- 14 cially hostile. 15 ‘‘(h) STANDING.—Any person suffering injury in fact 16 as a result of the alleged violation of this section may 17 bring a cause of action for damages, or for equitable or 18 for declaratory relief, under this section. Standing shall 19 not be limited to victims who were parties to, or third- 20 party beneficiaries of, a contract with the defendant. 21 ‘‘(i) RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR LIABILITY.—Principals 22 shall be liable for violations of this section by their agents, 23 and local governments shall be liable for violations of this 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4183.IH H4183 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 4183 IH section by their employees, acting within the scope of their 1 duties. 2 ‘‘(j) JURY TRIAL RIGHT.—All persons within the ju- 3 risdiction of the United States shall have the right to en- 4 force a right provided under this section in a court of law 5 and before a jury of their peers, and no joint-action waiver 6 or pre-dispute arbitration agreement shall be valid or en- 7 forceable with respect to any alleged violation of this sec- 8 tion. 9 ‘‘(k) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—All causes of ac- 10 tion under this section shall be governed by the 4-year 11 statute of limitations provided by section 1658(a) of title 12 28, United States Code. 13 ‘‘(l) REMEDIATING PAST DISCRIMINATION.—Nothing 14 in this section shall be construed to prohibit or limit a 15 lawful effort, under a provision other than this section, 16 to remedy the effects of discrimination that has occurred 17 or is occurring.’’. 18 SEC. 3. APPLICATION TO PENDING ACTIONS. 19 This Act, and the amendment made by this Act, shall 20 apply to any cause of action for a violation of section 1977 21 of the Revised Statutes that is pending on or after the 22 date of enactment of this Act. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4183.IH H4183 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 4183 IH SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 1 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 2 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend- 3 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti- 4 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 5 by this Act, and the application of such provision or 6 amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be af- 7 fected thereby. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4183.IH H4183 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB