Emergency Community Supervision Act
This bill establishes measures to reduce the number of individuals in federal custody during a national emergency relating to a communicable disease.
Specifically, it does the following:
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6400 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6400
To require the release of certain individuals in the custody of the
United States because of their risk of exposure during a national
emergency, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 26, 2020
Mr. Jeffries (for himself, Ms. Bass, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Richmond, Mrs.
Watson Coleman, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Norton, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi,
Mr. Garcia of Illinois, and Mr. Ted Lieu of California) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the release of certain individuals in the custody of the
United States because of their risk of exposure during a national
emergency, 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.
This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Community Supervision
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) As of the date of introduction of this Act, the novel
coronavirus has spread to all 50 States, the District of
Columbia, and 3 territories.
(2) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have
projected that between 160,000,000 and 214,000,000 people could
be infected by the novel coronavirus in the United States over
the course of the pandemic.
(3) Although the United States has less than 5 percent of
the world's population, the United States holds approximately
21 percent of the world's prisoners and leads the world in the
number of individuals incarcerated, with nearly 2,200,000
people incarcerated in State and Federal prisons and local
jails.
(4) Studies have shown that individuals age out of crime
starting around 25 years of age, and released individuals over
the age of 50 have a very low recidivism rate.
(5) According to public health experts, incarcerated
individuals are particularly vulnerable to being gravely
impacted by the novel corona virus pandemic because--
(A) they have higher rates of underlying health
issues than members of the general public, including
higher rates of respiratory disease, heart disease,
diabetes, obesity, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse,
hepatitis, and other conditions that suppress immune
response; and
(B) the close conditions and lack of access to
hygiene products in prisons make these institutions
unusually susceptible to viral pandemics.
(6) The spread of communicable viral disease in the United
States generally constitutes a serious, heightened threat to
the safety of incarcerated individuals, and there is a serious
threat to the general public that prisons may become incubators
of community spread of communicable viral disease.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Covered health condition.--The term ``covered health
condition'' with respect to an individual, means the
individual--
(A) is pregnant;
(B) has chronic lung disease or asthma;
(C) has congestive heart failure or coronary artery
disease;
(D) has diabetes;
(E) has a neurological condition that weakens the
ability to cough;
(F) has HIV;
(G) has sickle cell anemia;
(H) has cancer; or
(I) has a weakened immune system.
(2) Covered individual.--The term ``covered individual''
means an individual who--
(A) is 50 years of age or older;
(B) has a covered health condition; or
(C) is within 12 months of release from
incarceration.
(3) National emergency relation to a communicable
disease.--The term ``national emergency relating to a
communicable disease'' means--
(A) an emergency involving Federal primary
responsibility determined to exist by the President
under the section 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5191(b)) with respect to a communicable disease; or
(B) a national emergency declared by the President
under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et
seq.) with respect to a communicable disease.
SEC. 4. PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS IN COMMUNITY SUPERVISION.
(a) Authority.--Except as provided in subsection (b), beginning on
the date on which a national emergency relating to a communicable
disease is declared and ending on the date that is 60 days after such
national emergency expires--
(1) the Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall place in
community supervision all covered individuals who are in the
custody of the Bureau of Prisons; and
(2) the Director of the United States Marshals Service
shall place in community supervision all covered individuals
who are in the custody of the United States Marshals Service.
(b) Exception.--In carrying out subsection (a), each Director--
(1) may not place in community supervision any individual
determined, by clear and convincing evidence, to be likely to
pose a specific and substantial risk of causing bodily injury
or using violent force against the person of another;
(2) shall place in the file of each individual described in
paragraph (1) documentation of such determination, including
the evidence used to make the determination; and
(3) not later than 180 days after the date on which the
national emergency relating to a communicable disease expires,
shall provide a report to Congress documenting--
(A) the demographic data (including race, gender,
age, offense of conviction, and criminal history level)
of the individuals denied placement in community
supervision under paragraph (1); and
(B) the justification for the denials described in
subparagraph (A).
(c) Limitation on Community Supervision Placement.--In placing
covered individuals into community supervision under this section, the
Director of the Bureau of Prisons and the Director of the United States
Marshals Service shall take into account and prioritize placements that
enable adequate social distancing, which include home confinement or
other forms of low in-person-contact supervised release.
SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON PRE-TRIAL DETENTION.
Notwithstanding section 3142 of title 18, United States Code,
beginning on the date on which a national emergency relating to a
communicable disease is declared and ending on the date that is 60 days
after such national emergency expires, the Government may not seek to
detain, and a judicial officer (as defined in section 3156 of title 18,
United States Code) may not order the detainment of, any individual,
unless the Government shows by clear and convincing evidence that the
individual is likely to pose a flight risk or specific and substantial
risk of causing bodily injury or using violent force against the person
of another.
SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON SUPERVISED RELEASE.
Beginning on the date on which a national emergency relating to a
communicable disease is declared and ending on the date that is 60 days
after such national emergency expires, the Office of Probation and
Pretrial Services of the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts shall take measures to prevent the spread of the communicable
viral disease among individuals under supervision by--
(1) suspending the requirement that individuals determined
to be a lower risk of reoffending report in person to their
probation or parole officer;
(2) identifying individuals who have successfully completed
not less than 18 months of supervision and transferring such
individuals to administrative supervision or terminating
supervision, as appropriate; and
(3) suspending the use of incarceration as a sanction for
violations of probation or parole that do not constitute a new
felony offense.
SEC. 7. PROHIBITION.
No individual who is granted placement in community supervision,
termination of supervision, placement on administrative supervision, or
pre-trial release shall be re-incarcerated, placed on supervision or
active supervision, or ordered detained pre-trial only as a result of
the expiration of the national emergency relating to a communicable
disease.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
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