I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3506 

To establish an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights Division of 

the Department of Justice. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2005 

Mr. FILNER (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights 

Division of the Department of Justice. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unsolved Civil Rights 

5 Crime Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that all authorities with 

8 jurisdiction, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

9 and other entities within the Department of Justice, 

10 should— 
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1 (1) expeditiously investigate unsolved civil 

2 rights murders, due to the amount of time that has 

3 passed since the murders and the age of potential 

4 witnesses; and 

5 (2) provide all the resources necessary to ensure 

6 timely and thorough investigations in the cases in7 volved. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) CHIEF.—The term ‘‘Chief’’ means the Chief 

11 of the Section. 

12 (2) CRIMINAL CIVIL RIGHTS STATUTES.—The 

13 term ‘‘criminal civil rights statutes’’ means— 

14 (A) section 241 of title 18, United States 

15 Code (relating to conspiracy against rights); 

16 (B) section 242 of title 18, United States 

17 Code (relating to deprivation of rights under 

18 color of law); 

19 (C) section 245 of title 18, United States 

20 Code (relating to federally protected activities); 

21 (D) sections 1581 and 1584 of title 18, 

22 United States Code (relating to involuntary ser23 vitude and peonage); 

24 (E) section 901 of the Fair Housing Act 

25 (42 U.S.C. 3631); and 
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1 (F) any other Federal law that— 

2 (i) was in effect on or before Decem3 ber 31, 1969; and 

4 (ii) the Criminal Section of the Civil 

5 Rights Division of the Department of Jus6 tice enforced, prior to the date of enact7 ment of this Act. 

8 (3) SECTION.—The term ‘‘Section’’ (except 

9 when used as part of the term ‘‘Criminal Section’’) 

10 means the Unsolved Crimes Section established 

11 under section 4. 

12 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF SECTION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Civil 

14 Rights Division of the Department of Justice an Unsolved 

15 Crimes Section. The Section shall be headed by a Chief 

16 of the Section. 

17 (b) RESPONSIBILITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

19 provision of Federal law, the Chief shall be respon20 sible for investigating and prosecuting violations of 

21 criminal civil rights statutes, in each case in which 

22 a complaint alleges that such a violation— 

23 (A) occurred not later than December 31, 

24 1969; and 

25 (B) resulted in a death. 
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1 (2) COORDINATION.—After investigating a com2 plaint under paragraph (1), if the Chief determines 

3 that an alleged practice that is a violation of a crimi4 nal civil rights statute occurred in a State, or polit5 ical subdivision of a State, that has a State or local 

6 law prohibiting the practice alleged and establishing 

7 or authorizing a State or local official to grant or 

8 seek relief from such practice or to institute criminal 

9 proceedings with respect to the practice on receiving 

10 notice of the practice, the Chief shall consult with 

11 the State or local official regarding the appropriate 

12 venue for the case involved. 

13 (3) REFERRAL.—After investigating a com14 plaint under paragraph (1), the Chief shall refer the 

15 complaint to the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights 

16 Division, if the Chief determines that the subject of 

17 the complaint has violated a criminal civil rights 

18 statute in the case involved but the violation does 

19 not meet the requirements of subparagraph (A) or 

20 (B) of paragraph (1). 

21 (c) STUDY AND REPORT.— 

22 (1) STUDY.—The Chief shall annually conduct 

23 a study of the cases under the jurisdiction of the 

24 Chief and, in conducting the study, shall determine 

25 the cases— 
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1 (A) for which the Chief has sufficient evi2 dence to prosecute violations of criminal civil 

3 rights statutes; and 

4 (B) for which the Chief has insufficient 

5 evidence to prosecute those violations. 

6 (2) REPORT.—Not later than September 30 of 

7 2006 and of each subsequent year, the Chief shall 

8 prepare and submit to Congress a report containing 

9 the results of the study conducted under paragraph 

10 (1), including a description of the cases described in 

11 paragraph (1)(B). 

12 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to 

14 be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 

15 for fiscal year 2006 and each subsequent fiscal year. 

16 (2) ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS.—Any funds 

17 appropriated under this subsection shall consist of 

18 additional appropriations for the activities described 

19 in this section, rather than funds made available 

20 through reductions in the appropriations authorized 

21 for other enforcement activities of the Department 

22 of Justice. 

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