[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8525 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8525
To hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, improve
transparency through data collection, and reform police training and
policies.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 23, 2024
Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Neguse, Ms.
Pelosi, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Clyburn, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Johnson of
Georgia, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Correa, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Jayapal, Ms.
Scanlon, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Ross,
Mr. Ivey, Ms. Balint, Ms. Adams, Mr. Allred, Mr. Amo, Ms. Barragan,
Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Bera, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr.
Blumenauer, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Bowman, Ms. Brown,
Ms. Brownley, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Carson, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr.
Cartwright, Mr. Casar, Mr. Casten, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Castro of
Texas, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Chu, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr.
Cleaver, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Costa, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Crow, Mr. Davis of
Illinois, Ms. DeGette, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Deluzio, Mr.
DeSaulnier, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Espaillat, Mr.
Evans, Mr. Foster, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Mr.
Frost, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Mr. Garcia of
Illinois, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr.
Grijalva, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Houlahan, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms.
Jacobs, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Keating, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr.
Khanna, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Mr.
Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee of
California, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Manning, Ms. Matsui, Ms. McClellan, Ms.
McCollum, Mr. McGarvey, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Moore
of Wisconsin, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mullin, Mrs. Napolitano,
Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Omar, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Peters, Ms.
Pingree, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Porter, Ms. Pressley, Mr.
Quigley, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr.
Sablan, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schneider, Mr.
David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Sherman,
Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Soto, Ms. Spanberger, Ms. Stevens, Ms.
Strickland, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms.
Tlaib, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Torres of New York, Mrs. Trahan, Mr.
Trone, Ms. Underwood, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velazquez, Ms.
Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Waters, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Wexton, Ms.
Williams of Georgia, and Ms. Wilson of Florida) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary,
and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Energy and
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, improve
transparency through data collection, and reform police training and
policies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``George Floyd
Justice in Policing Act of 2024''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I--POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
Subtitle A--Holding Police Accountable in the Courts
Sec. 101. Deprivation of rights under color of law.
Sec. 102. Qualified immunity reform.
Sec. 103. Pattern and practice investigations.
Sec. 104. Independent investigations.
Subtitle B--Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act
Sec. 111. Short title.
Sec. 112. Definitions.
Sec. 113. Accreditation of law enforcement agencies.
Sec. 114. Law enforcement grants.
Sec. 115. Attorney General to conduct study.
Sec. 116. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 117. National task force on law enforcement oversight.
Sec. 118. Federal data collection on law enforcement practices.
TITLE II--POLICING TRANSPARENCY THROUGH DATA
Subtitle A--National Police Misconduct Registry
Sec. 201. Establishment of National Police Misconduct Registry.
Sec. 202. Certification requirements for hiring of law enforcement
officers.
Subtitle B--PRIDE Act
Sec. 221. Short title.
Sec. 222. Definitions.
Sec. 223. Use of force reporting.
Sec. 224. Use of force data reporting.
Sec. 225. Compliance with reporting requirements.
Sec. 226. Federal law enforcement reporting.
Sec. 227. Authorization of appropriations.
TITLE III--IMPROVING POLICE TRAINING AND POLICIES
Subtitle A--End Racial and Religious Profiling Act
Sec. 301. Short title.
Sec. 302. Definitions.
Part I--Prohibition of Racial Profiling
Sec. 311. Prohibition.
Sec. 312. Enforcement.
Part II--Programs To Eliminate Racial Profiling by Federal Law
Enforcement Agencies
Sec. 321. Policies to eliminate racial profiling.
Part III--Programs To Eliminate Racial Profiling by State and Local Law
Enforcement Agencies
Sec. 331. Policies required for grants.
Sec. 332. Involvement of Attorney General.
Sec. 333. Data collection demonstration project.
Sec. 334. Development of best practices.
Sec. 335. Authorization of appropriations.
Part IV--Data Collection
Sec. 341. Attorney General to issue regulations.
Sec. 342. Publication of data.
Sec. 343. Limitations on publication of data.
Part V--Department of Justice Regulations and Reports on Racial
Profiling in the United States
Sec. 351. Attorney General to issue regulations and reports.
Subtitle B--Additional Reforms
Sec. 361. Training on racial bias and duty to intervene.
Sec. 362. Ban on no-knock warrants in drug cases.
Sec. 363. Incentivizing banning of chokeholds and carotid holds.
Sec. 364. PEACE Act.
Sec. 365. Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act.
Sec. 366. Public safety innovation grants.
Subtitle C--Law Enforcement Body Cameras
Part 1--Federal Police Camera and Accountability Act
Sec. 371. Short title.
Sec. 372. Requirements for Federal law enforcement officers regarding
the use of body cameras.
Sec. 373. Patrol vehicles with in-car video recording cameras.
Sec. 374. Facial recognition technology.
Sec. 375. GAO study.
Sec. 376. Regulations.
Sec. 377. Rule of construction.
Part 2--Police CAMERA Act
Sec. 381. Short title.
Sec. 382. Law enforcement body-worn camera requirements.
TITLE IV--CLOSING THE LAW ENFORCEMENT CONSENT LOOPHOLE
Sec. 401. Short title.
Sec. 402. Prohibition on engaging in sexual acts while acting under
color of law.
Sec. 403. Enactment of laws penalizing engaging in sexual acts while
acting under color of law.
Sec. 404. Reports to Congress.
Sec. 405. Definition.
TITLE V--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 501. Severability.
Sec. 502. Savings clause.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Byrne grant program.--The term ``Byrne grant program''
means any grant program under subpart 1 of part E of title I of
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34
U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), without regard to whether the funds are
characterized as being made available under the Edward Byrne
Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Programs,
the Local Government Law Enforcement Block Grants Program, the
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, or
otherwise.
(2) COPS grant program.--The term ``COPS grant program''
means the grant program authorized under section 1701 of title
I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34
U.S.C. 10381).
(3) Federal law enforcement agency.--The term ``Federal law
enforcement agency'' means any agency of the United States
authorized to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection,
investigation, or prosecution of any violation of Federal
criminal law.
(4) Federal law enforcement officer.--The term ``Federal
law enforcement officer'' has the meaning given the term in
section 115 of title 18, United States Code.
(5) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given the term ``Indian tribe'' in section 901 of title
I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34
U.S.C. 10251).
(6) Local law enforcement officer.--The term ``local law
enforcement officer'' means any officer, agent, or employee of
a State or unit of local government authorized by law or by a
government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention,
detection, or investigation of any violation of criminal law.
(7) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given the
term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
(8) Tribal law enforcement officer.--The term ``tribal law
enforcement officer'' means any officer, agent, or employee of
an Indian tribe, or the Bureau of Indian Affairs, authorized by
law or by a government agency to engage in or supervise the
prevention, detection, or investigation of any violation of
criminal law.
(9) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local
government'' has the meaning given the term in section 901 of
title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of
1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
(10) Deadly force.--The term ``deadly force'' means that
force which a reasonable person would consider likely to cause
death or serious bodily harm, including--
(A) the discharge of a firearm;
(B) a maneuver that restricts blood or oxygen flow
to the brain, including chokeholds, strangleholds, neck
restraints, neckholds, and carotid artery restraints;
and
(C) multiple discharges of an electronic control
weapon.
(11) Use of force.--The term ``use of force'' includes--
(A) the use of a firearm, electronic control
weapon, explosive device, chemical agent (such as
pepper spray), baton, impact projectile, blunt
instrument, hand, fist, foot, canine, or vehicle
against an individual;
(B) the use of a weapon, including a personal body
weapon, chemical agent, impact weapon, extended range
impact weapon, sonic weapon, sensory weapon, conducted
energy device, or firearm, against an individual; or
(C) any intentional pointing of a firearm at an
individual.
(12) Less lethal force.--The term ``less lethal force''
means any degree of force that is not likely to cause death or
serious bodily injury.
(13) Facial recognition.--The term ``facial recognition''
means an automated or semiautomated process that analyzes
biometric data of an individual from video footage to identify
or assist in identifying an individual.
TITLE I--POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
Subtitle A--Holding Police Accountable in the Courts
SEC. 101. DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS UNDER COLOR OF LAW.
Section 242 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``willfully'' and inserting ``knowingly or
recklessly'';
(2) by striking ``, or may be sentenced to death''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following: ``For purposes of
this section, an act shall be considered to have resulted in
death if the act was a substantial factor contributing to the
death of the person.''.
SEC. 102. QUALIFIED IMMUNITY REFORM.
Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42
U.S.C. 1983) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``It shall
not be a defense or immunity in any action brought under this section
against a local law enforcement officer (as such term is defined in
section 2 of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2024), or in
any action under any source of law against a Federal investigative or
law enforcement officer (as such term is defined in section 2680(h) of
title 28, United States Code), that--
``(1) the defendant was acting in good faith, or that the
defendant believed, reasonably or otherwise, that his or her
conduct was lawful at the time when the conduct was committed;
or
``(2) the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the
Constitution and laws were not clearly established at the time
of their deprivation by the defendant, or that at such time,
the state of the law was otherwise such that the defendant
could not reasonably have been expected to know whether his or
her conduct was lawful.''.
SEC. 103. PATTERN AND PRACTICE INVESTIGATIONS.
(a) Subpoena Authority.--Section 210401 of the Violent Crime
Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``, by prosecutors,''
after ``conduct by law enforcement officers'';
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``paragraph (1)'' and
inserting ``subsection (a)''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Subpoena Authority.--In carrying out the authority in
subsection (b), the Attorney General may require by subpoena the
production of all information, documents, reports, answers, records,
accounts, papers, and other data in any medium (including
electronically stored information), as well as any tangible thing and
documentary evidence, and the attendance and testimony of witnesses
necessary in the performance of the Attorney General under subsection
(b). Such a subpoena, in the case of contumacy or refusal to obey,
shall be enforceable by order of any appropriate district court of the
United States.
``(d) Civil Action by State Attorneys General.--Whenever it shall
appear to the attorney general of any State, or such other official as
a State may designate, that a violation of subsection (a) has occurred
within their State, the State attorney general or official, in the name
of the State, may bring a civil action in the appropriate district
court of the United States to obtain appropriate equitable and
declaratory relief to eliminate the pattern or practice. In carrying
out the authority in this subsection, the State attorney general or
official shall have the same subpoena authority as is available to the
Attorney General under subsection (c).
``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed to limit the authority of the Attorney General under
subsection (b) in any case in which a State attorney general has
brought a civil action under subsection (d).
``(f) Reporting Requirements.--On the date that is one year after
the enactment of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2024, and
annually thereafter, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of
Justice shall make publicly available on an internet website a report
on, during the previous year--
``(1) the number of preliminary investigations of
violations of subsection (a) that were commenced;
``(2) the number of preliminary investigations of
violations of subsection (a) that were resolved; and
``(3) the status of any pending investigations of
violations of subsection (a).''.
(b) Grant Program.--
(1) Grants authorized.--The Attorney General may award a
grant to a State to assist the State in conducting pattern and
practice investigations under section 210401(d) of the Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C.
12601).
(2) Application.--A State seeking a grant under paragraph
(1) shall submit an application in such form, at such time, and
containing such information as the Attorney General may
require.
(3) Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated
$100,000,000 to the Attorney General for each of fiscal years
2025 through 2027 to carry out this subsection.
(c) Data on Excessive Use of Force.--Section 210402 of the Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12602) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``The Attorney General'' and
inserting the following:
``(1) Federal collection of data.--The Attorney General'';
and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) State collection of data.--The attorney general of a
State may, through appropriate means, acquire data about the
use of excessive force by law enforcement officers and such
data may be used by the attorney general in conducting
investigations under section 210401. This data may not contain
any information that may reveal the identity of the victim or
any law enforcement officer.''; and
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
``(b) Limitation on Use of Data Acquired by the Attorney General.--
Data acquired under subsection (a)(1) shall be used only for research
or statistical purposes and may not contain any information that may
reveal the identity of the victim or any law enforcement officer.''.
(d) Enforcement of Pattern or Practice Relief.--Beginning in the
first fiscal year that begins after the date that is one year after the
date of enactment of this Act, a State or unit of local government that
receives funds under the Byrne grant program or the COPS grant program
during a fiscal year may not make available any amount of such funds to
a local law enforcement agency if that local law enforcement agency
enters into or renews any contractual arrangement, including a
collective bargaining agreement with a labor organization, that--
(1) would prevent the Attorney General from seeking or
enforcing equitable or declaratory relief against a law
enforcement agency engaging in a pattern or practice of
unconstitutional misconduct; or
(2) conflicts with any terms or conditions contained in a
consent decree.
SEC. 104. INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS.
(a) In General.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Independent investigation.--The term
``independent investigation'' means a criminal