End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 - Prohibits any law enforcement agent or agency from engaging in racial profiling. Grants the United States or an individual injured by racial profiling the right to obtain declaratory or injunctive relief.
Requires federal law enforcement agencies to maintain adequate policies and procedures to eliminate racial profiling and to cease existing practices that permit racial profiling.
Requires state or local governmental entities or state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies that apply for grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program and the Cops on the Beat Program to certify that they maintain adequate policies and procedures for eliminating racial profiling and have eliminated any existing practices that permit or encourage racial profiling.
Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants and contracts for the collection of data relating to racial profiling and for the development of best practices and systems to eliminate racial profiling. Requires the Attorney General to issue regulations for the collection and compilation of data on racial profiling and for the implementation of this Act.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1670 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1670
To eliminate racial profiling by law enforcement, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 6, 2011
Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Gillibrand,
Mr. Kerry, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Levin, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Mikulski, and
Ms. Stabenow) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To eliminate racial profiling by law enforcement, and for other
purposes.
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 ``End Racial
Profiling Act of 2011''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I--PROHIBITION OF RACIAL PROFILING
Sec. 101. Prohibition.
Sec. 102. Enforcement.
TITLE II--PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING BY FEDERAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
Sec. 201. Policies to eliminate racial profiling.
TITLE III--PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING BY STATE, LOCAL, AND
INDIAN TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
Sec. 301. Policies required for grants.
Sec. 302. Involvement of Attorney General.
Sec. 303. Data collection demonstration project.
Sec. 304. Best practices development grants.
Sec. 305. Authorization of appropriations.
TITLE IV--DATA COLLECTION
Sec. 401. Attorney General to issue regulations.
Sec. 402. Publication of data.
Sec. 403. Limitations on publication of data.
TITLE V--DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REGULATIONS AND REPORTS ON RACIAL
PROFILING IN THE UNITED STATES
Sec. 501. Attorney General to issue regulations and reports.
TITLE VI--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 601. Severability.
Sec. 602. Savings clause.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Covered program.--The term ``covered program'' means
any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds
made available under--
(A) the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance
Grant Program under part E of title I of the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.
3750 et seq.); and
(B) the ``Cops on the Beat'' program under part Q
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.), except
that no program, project, or other activity specified
in section 1701(b)(13) of such part shall be a covered
program under this paragraph.
(2) Governmental body.--The term ``governmental body''
means any department, agency, special purpose district, or
other instrumentality of Federal, State, local, or Indian
tribal government.
(3) Hit rate.--The term ``hit rate'' means the percentage
of stops and searches in which a law enforcement officer finds
drugs, a gun, or something else that leads to an arrest. The
hit rate is calculated by dividing the total number of searches
by the number of searches that yield contraband. The hit rate
is complementary to the rate of false stops.
(4) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the
meaning given the term in section 102 of the Federally
Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a).
(5) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement
agency'' means any Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal
public agency engaged in the prevention, detection, or
investigation of violations of criminal, immigration, or
customs laws.
(6) Law enforcement agent.--The term ``law enforcement
agent'' means any Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal
official responsible for enforcing criminal, immigration, or
customs laws, including police officers and other agents of a
law enforcement agency.
(7) Racial profiling.--The term ``racial profiling'' means
the practice of a law enforcement agent or agency relying, to
any degree, on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion in
selecting which individual to subject to routine or spontaneous
investigatory activities or in deciding upon the scope and
substance of law enforcement activity following the initial
investigatory procedure, except when there is trustworthy
information, relevant to the locality and timeframe, that links
a person of a particular race, ethnicity, national origin, or
religion to an identified criminal incident or scheme.
(8) Routine or spontaneous investigatory activities.--The
term ``routine or spontaneous investigatory activities'' means
the following activities by a law enforcement agent:
(A) Interviews.
(B) Traffic stops.
(C) Pedestrian stops.
(D) Frisks and other types of body searches.
(E) Consensual or nonconsensual searches of the
persons, property, or possessions (including vehicles)
of individuals using any form of public or private
transportation, including motorists and pedestrians.
(F) Data collection and analysis, assessments, and
predicated investigations.
(G) Inspections and interviews of entrants into the
United States that are more extensive than those
customarily carried out.
(H) Immigration-related workplace investigations.
(I) Such other types of law enforcement encounters
compiled for or by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
or the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice
Statistics.
(9) Reasonable request.--The term ``reasonable request''
means all requests for information, except for those that--
(A) are immaterial to the investigation;
(B) would result in the unnecessary disclosure of
personal information; or
(C) would place a severe burden on the resources of
the law enforcement agency given its size.
(10) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United
States.
(11) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local
government'' means--
(A) any city, county, township, town, borough,
parish, village, or other general purpose political
subdivision of a State;
(B) any law enforcement district or judicial
enforcement district that--
(i) is established under applicable State
law; and
(ii) has the authority to, in a manner
independent of other State entities, establish
a budget and impose taxes; or
(C) any Indian tribe that performs law enforcement
functions, as determined by the Secretary of the
Interior.
TITLE I--PROHIBITION OF RACIAL PROFILING
SEC. 101. PROHIBITION.
No law enforcement agent or law enforcement agency shall engage in
racial profiling.
SEC. 102. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Remedy.--The United States, or an individual injured by racial
profiling, may enforce this title in a civil action for declaratory or
injunctive relief, filed either in a State court of general
jurisdiction or in a district court of the United States.
(b) Parties.--In any action brought under this title, relief may be
obtained against--
(1) any governmental body that employed any law enforcement
agent who engaged in racial profiling;
(2) any agent of such body who engaged in racial profiling;
and
(3) any person with supervisory authority over such agent.
(c) Nature of Proof.--Proof that the routine or spontaneous
investigatory activities of law enforcement agents in a jurisdiction
have had a disparate impact on racial, ethnic, or religious minorities
shall constitute prima facie evidence of a violation of this title.
(d) Attorney's Fees.--In any action or proceeding to enforce this
title against any governmental body, the court may allow a prevailing
plaintiff, other than the United States, reasonable attorney's fees as
part of the costs, and may include expert fees as part of the
attorney's fee.
TITLE II--PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING BY FEDERAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
SEC. 201. POLICIES TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING.
(a) In General.--Federal law enforcement agencies shall--
(1) maintain adequate policies and procedures designed to
eliminate racial profiling; and
(2) cease existing practices that permit racial profiling.
(b) Policies.--The policies and procedures described in subsection
(a)(1) shall include--
(1) a prohibition on racial profiling;
(2) training on racial profiling issues as part of Federal
law enforcement training;
(3) the collection of data in accordance with the
regulations issued by the Attorney General under section 401;
(4) procedures for receiving, investigating, and responding
meaningfully to complaints alleging racial profiling by law
enforcement agents; and
(5) any other policies and procedures the Attorney General
determines to be necessary to eliminate racial profiling by
Federal law enforcement agencies.
TITLE III--PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING BY STATE, LOCAL, AND
INDIAN TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
SEC. 301. POLICIES REQUIRED FOR GRANTS.
(a) In General.--An application by a State, a unit of local
government, or a State, local, or Indian tribal law enforcement agency
for funding under a covered program shall include a certification that
such State, unit of local government, or law enforcement agency, and
any law enforcement agency to which it will distribute funds--
(1) maintains adequate policies and procedures designed to
eliminate racial profiling; and
(2) has eliminated any existing practices that permit or
encourage racial profiling.
(b) Policies.--The policies and procedures described in subsection
(a)(1) shall include--
(1) a prohibition on racial profiling;
(2) training on racial profiling issues as part of law
enforcement training;
(3) the collection of data in accordance with the
regulations issued by the Attorney General under section 401;
and
(4) participation in an administrative complaint procedure
or independent audit program that meets the requirements of
section 302.
(c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect 12 months after
the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 302. INVOLVEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.
(a) Regulations.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act and in consultation with stakeholders,
including Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement
agencies and community, professional, research, and civil
rights organizations, the Attorney General shall issue
regulations for the operation of administrative complaint
procedures and independent audit programs to ensure that such
programs and procedures provide an appropriate response to
allegations of racial profiling by law enforcement agents or
agencies.
(2) Guidelines.--The regulations issued under paragraph (1)
shall contain guidelines that ensure the fairness,
effectiveness, and independence of the administrative complaint
procedures and independent auditor programs.
(b) Noncompliance.--If the Attorney General determines that the
recipient of a grant from any covered program is not in compliance with
the requirements of section 301 or the regulations issued under
subsection (a), the Attorney General shall withhold, in whole or in
part (at the discretion of the Attorney General), funds for 1 or more
grants to the recipient under the covered program, until the recipient
establishes compliance.
(c) Private Parties.--The Attorney General shall provide notice and
an opportunity for private parties to present evidence to the Attorney
General that a recipient of a grant from any covered program is not in
compliance with the requirements of this title.
SEC. 303. DATA COLLECTION DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.
(a) Competitive Awards.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General may, through
competitive grants or contracts, carry out a 2-year
demonstration project for the purpose of developing and
implementing data collection programs on the hit rates for
stops and searches by law enforcement agencies. The data
collected shall be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, national
origin, and religion.
(2) Number of grants.--The Attorney General shall provide
not more than 5 grants or contracts under this section.
(3) Eligible grantees.--Grants or contracts under this
section shall be awarded to law enforcement agencies that serve
communities where there is a significant concentration of
racial or ethnic minorities and that are not already collecting
data voluntarily.
(b) Required Activities.--Activities carried out with a grant under
this section shall include--
(1) developing a data collection tool and reporting the
compiled data to the Attorney General; and
(2) training of law enforcement personnel on data
collection, particularly for data collection on hit rates for
stops and searches.
(c) Evaluation.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Attorney General shall enter into a contract with an
institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to analyze the data
collected by each of the grantees funded under this section.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out activities under this section--
(1) $5,000,000, over a 2-year period, to carry out the
demonstration program under subsection (a); and
(2) $500,000 to carry out the evaluation under subsection
(c).
SEC. 304. BEST PRACTICES DEVELOPMENT GRANTS.
(a) Grant Authorization.--The Attorney General, through the Bureau
of Justice Assistance, may make grants to States, local law enforcement
agencies, and units of local government to develop and implement best
practice devices and systems to eliminate racial profiling.
(b) Use of Funds.--The funds provided under subsection (a) shall be
used for programs that include the following purposes:
(1) The development and implementation of training to
prevent racial profiling and to encourage more respectful
interaction with the public.
(2) The acquisition and use of technology to facilitate the
accurate collection and analysis of data.
(3) The development and acquisition of feedback systems and
technologies that identify officers or units of officers
engaged in, or at risk of engaging in, racial profiling or
other misconduct.
(4) The establishment and maintenance of an administrative
complaint procedure or independent auditor program.
(c) Equitable Distribution.--The Attorney General shall ensure that
grants under this section are awarded in a manner that reserves an
equitable share of funding for small and rural law enforcement
agencies.
(d) Application.--Each State, local law enforcement agency, or unit
of local government desiring a grant under this section shall submit an
application to the Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and
accompanied by such information as the Attorney General may reasonably
require.
SEC. 305. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary
to carry out this title.
TITLE IV--DATA COLLECTION
SEC. 401. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ISSUE REGULATIONS.
(a) Regulations.--Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with
stakeholders, including Federal, State, and local law enforcement
agencies and community, professional, research, and civil rights
organizations, shall issue regulations for the collection and
compilation of data under sections 201 and 301.
(b) Requirements.--The regulations issued under subsection (a)
shall--
(1) provide for the collection of data on all routine or
spontaneous investigatory activities;
(2) provide that the data collected shall--
(A) be collected by race, ethnicity, national
origin, gender, and religion, as perceived by the law
enforcement officer;
(B) include the date, time, and location of such
investigatory activities;
(C) include detail sufficient to permit an analysis
of whether a law enforcement agency is engaging in
racial profiling; and
(D) not include personally identifiable
information;
(3) provide that a standardized form shall be made
available to law enforcement agencies for the submission of
collected data to the Department of Justice;
(4) provide that law enforcement agencies shall compile
data on the standardized form made available under paragraph
(3), and submit the form to the Civil Rights Division and the
Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics;
(5) provide that law enforcement agencies shall maintain
all data collected under this Act for not less than 4 years;
(6) include guidelines for setting comparative benchmarks,
consistent with best practices, against which collected data
shall be measured;
(7) provide that the Department of Justice Bureau of
Justice Statistics shall--
(A) analyze the data for any statistically
significant disparities, including--
(i) disparities in the percentage of
drivers or pedestrians stopped relative to the
proportion of the population passing through
the neighborhood;
(ii) disparities in the hit rate; and
(iii) disparities in the frequency of
searches performed on minority drivers and the
frequency of searches performed on non-minority
drivers; and
(B) not later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter--
(i) prepare a report regarding the findings
of the analysis conducted under subparagraph
(A);
(ii) provide such report to Congress; and
(iii) make such report available to the
public, including on a website of the
Department of Justice; and
(8) protect the privacy of individuals whose data is
collected by--
(A) limiting the use of the data collected under
this Act to the purposes set forth in this Act;
(B) except as otherwise provided in this Act,
limiting access to the data collected under this Act to
those Federal, State, local, or tribal employees or
agents who require such access in order to fulfill the
purposes for the data set forth in this Act;
(C) requiring contractors or other non-governmental
agents who are permitted access to the data collected
under this Act to sign use agreements incorporating the
use and disclosure restrictions set forth in
subparagraph (A); and
(D) requiring the maintenance of adequate security
measures to prevent unauthorized access to the data
collected under this Act.
SEC. 402. PUBLICATION OF DATA.
The Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics shall
provide to Congress and make available to the public, together with
each annual report described in section 401, the data collected
pursuant to this Act, excluding any personally identifiable information
described in section 403.
SEC. 403. LIMITATIONS ON PUBLICATION OF DATA.
The name or identifying information of a law enforcement officer,
complainant, or any other individual involved in any activity for which
data is collected and compiled under this Act shall not be--
(1) released to the public;
(2) disclosed to any person, except for--
(A) such disclosures as are necessary to comply
with this Act;
(B) disclosures of information regarding a
particular person to that person; or
(C) disclosures pursuant to litigation; or
(3) subject to disclosure under section 552 of title 5,
United States Code (commonly know as the Freedom of Information
Act), except for disclosures of information regarding a
particular person to that person.
TITLE V--DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REGULATIONS AND REPORTS ON RACIAL
PROFILING IN THE UNITED STATES
SEC. 501. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ISSUE REGULATIONS AND REPORTS.
(a) Regulations.--In addition to the regulations required under
sections 303 and 401, the Attorney General shall issue such other
regulations as the Attorney General determines are necessary to
implement this Act.
(b) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney
General shall submit to Congress a report on racial profiling
by law enforcement agencies.
(2) Scope.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall
include--
(A) a summary of data collected under sections
201(b)(3) and 301(b)(3) and from any other reliable
source of information regarding racial profiling in the
United States;
(B) a discussion of the findings in the most recent
report prepared by the Department of Justice Bureau of
Justice Statistics under section 401(b)(7);
(C) the status of the adoption and implementation
of policies and procedures by Federal law enforcement
agencies under section 201 and by the State and local
law enforcement agencies under sections 301 and 302;
and
(D) a description of any other policies and
procedures that the Attorney General believes would
facilitate the elimination of racial profiling.
TITLE VI--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
SEC. 601. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such a
provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the application of the
remaining provisions of this Act to any person or circumstance shall
not be affected thereby.
SEC. 602. SAVINGS CLAUSE.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed--
(1) to limit legal or administrative remedies under section
1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C.
1983), section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14141), the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.),
or title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et
seq.);
(2) to affect any Federal, State, or tribal law that
applies to an Indian tribe because of the political status of
the tribe; or
(3) to waive the sovereign immunity of an Indian tribe
without the consent of the tribe.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6339-6340)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6481-6482)
Committee on the Judiciary Senate Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 112-944.
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