II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 573 

To establish the National Criminal Justice Commission. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2017 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. 

COCHRAN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, 

Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. WARNER, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. HEITKAMP, Mr. MERKLEY, 

Mr. HATCH, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. NELSON, 

Mr. KAINE, and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish the National Criminal Justice Commission. 

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 ‘‘National Criminal Jus5 tice Commission Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) it is in the interest of the Nation to estab9 lish a commission to undertake a comprehensive re10 view of the criminal justice system; 


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1 (2) there has not been a comprehensive study 

2 since the President’s Commission on Law Enforce3 ment and Administration of Justice was established 

4 in 1965; 

5 (3) that commission, in a span of 18 months, 

6 produced a comprehensive report entitled ‘‘The 

7 Challenge of Crime in a Free Society’’, which con8 tained 200 specific recommendations on all aspects 

9 of the criminal justice system involving Federal, 

10 State, tribal, and local governments, civic organiza11 tions, religious institutions, business groups, and in12 dividual citizens; and 

13 (4) developments over the intervening 50 years 

14 require once again that Federal, State, tribal, and 

15 local governments, law enforcement agencies, includ16 ing rank and file officers, civil rights organizations, 

17 community-based organization leaders, civic organi18 zations, religious institutions, business groups, and 

19 individual citizens come together to review evidence 

20 and consider how to improve the criminal justice 

21 system. 

22 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

23 There is established a commission to be known as the 

24 ‘‘National Criminal Justice Commission’’ (referred to in 

25 this Act as the ‘‘Commission’’). 


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1 SEC. 4. PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION. 

2 The Commission shall— 

3 (1) undertake a comprehensive review of the 

4 criminal justice system; 

5 (2) make recommendations for Federal criminal 

6 justice reform to the President and Congress; and 

7 (3) disseminate findings and supplemental guid8 ance to the Federal Government, as well as to State, 

9 local, and tribal governments. 

10 SEC. 5. REVIEW, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND REPORT. 

11 (a) GENERAL REVIEW.—The Commission shall un12 dertake a comprehensive review of all areas of the criminal 

13 justice system, including Federal, State, local, and tribal 

14 governments’ criminal justice costs, practices, and policies. 

15 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

17 after the first meeting of the Commission, the Com18 mission shall submit to the President and Congress 

19 recommendations for changes in Federal oversight, 

20 policies, practices, and laws designed to prevent, 

21 deter, and reduce crime and violence, reduce recidi22 vism, improve cost-effectiveness, and ensure the in23 terests of justice at every step of the criminal justice 

24 system. 

25 (2) UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUIRED.—A rec26 ommendation of the Commission may be adopted 


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1 and submitted under paragraph (1) if the rec2 ommendation is approved by a unanimous vote of 

3 the Commissioners at a meeting where a quorum is 

4 present pursuant to section 6(d). 

5 (3) REQUIREMENT.—The recommendations 

6 submitted under this subsection shall be made avail7 able to the public. 

8 (c) REPORT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

10 after the first meeting of the Commission, the Com11 mission shall also disseminate to the Federal Gov12 ernment, as well as to State, local, and tribal gov13 ernments, a report that details the findings and sup14 plemental guidance of the Commission regarding the 

15 criminal justice system at all levels of government. 

16 (2) MAJORITY VOTE REQUIRED.—Commission 

17 findings and supplemental guidance may be adopted 

18 and included in the report required under paragraph 

19 (1) if the findings or guidance is approved by a ma20 jority vote of the Commissioners at a meeting where 

21 a quorum is present pursuant to section 6(d), except 

22 that any Commissioners dissenting from particular 

23 finding or supplemental guidance shall have the 

24 right to state the reason for their dissent in writing 


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1 and such dissent shall be included in the report of 

2 the Commission. 

3 (3) REQUIREMENT.—The report submitted 

4 under this subsection shall be made available to the 

5 public. 

6 (d) PRIOR COMMISSIONS.—The Commission shall 

7 take into consideration the work of prior relevant commis8 sions in conducting its review. 

9 (e) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—In issuing its 

10 recommendations and report under this section, the Com11 mission shall not infringe on the legitimate rights of the 

12 States to determine their own criminal laws or the enforce13 ment of such laws. 

14 (f) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—The Commission shall con15 duct public hearings in various locations around the 

16 United States. 

17 (g) CONSULTATION WITH GOVERNMENT AND NON18 GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall— 

20 (A) closely consult with Federal, State, 

21 local, and tribal government and nongovern22 mental leaders, including State, local, and tribal 

23 law enforcement officials, including rank and 

24 file officers, legislators, public health officials, 

25 judges, court administrators, prosecutors, deVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Mar 14, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S573.IS S573

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1 fense counsel, victims’ rights organizations, pro2 bation and parole officials, criminal justice 

3 planners, criminologists, civil rights and lib4 erties organizations, community-based organiza5 tion leaders, formerly incarcerated individuals, 

6 professional organizations, and corrections offi7 cials; and 

8 (B) include in the final report required 

9 under subsection (c) summaries of the input 

10 and recommendations of these leaders. 

11 (2) UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMIS12 SION.—To the extent the review and recommenda13 tions required by this section relate to sentencing 

14 policies and practices for the Federal criminal jus15 tice system, the Commission shall conduct such re16 view and make such recommendations in consulta17 tion with the United States Sentencing Commission. 

18 (h) SENSE OF CONGRESS, GOAL OF UNANIMITY.— 

19 It is the sense of the Congress that, given the national 

20 importance of the matters before the Commission, the 

21 Commission should work toward unanimously supported 

22 findings and supplemental guidance, and that unani23 mously supported findings and supplemental guidance 

24 should take precedence over those findings and supple25 mental guidance that are not unanimously supported. 


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1 SEC. 6. MEMBERSHIP. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be com3 posed of 14 members, as follows: 

4 (1) One member shall be appointed by the 

5 President, who shall serve as co-chairman of the 

6 Commission. 

7 (2) One member shall be appointed by the lead8 er of the Senate, in consultation with the leader of 

9 the House of Representatives, that is a member of 

10 the opposite party of the President, who shall serve 

11 as co-chairman of the Commission. 

12 (3) Two members shall be appointed by the sen13 ior member of the Senate leadership of the Demo14 cratic Party, in consultation with the Democratic 

15 leadership of the Committee on the Judiciary. 

16 (4) Two members shall be appointed by the sen17 ior member of the Senate leadership of the Repub18 lican Party, in consultation with the Republican 

19 leadership of the Committee on the Judiciary. 

20 (5) Two members shall be appointed by the sen21 ior member of the leadership of the House of Rep22 resentatives of the Republican Party, in consultation 

23 with the Republican leadership of the Committee on 

24 the Judiciary. 

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1 resentatives of the Democratic Party, in consultation 

2 with the Democratic leadership of the Committee on 

3 the Judiciary. 

4 (7) Two members, who shall be State and local 

5 representatives, shall be appointed by the President 

6 in agreement with leader of the Senate (majority or 

7 minority leader, as the case may be) of the Repub8 lican Party and the leader of the House of Rep9 resentatives (majority or minority leader, as the case 

10 may be) of the Republican Party. 

11 (8) Two members, who shall be State and local 

12 representatives, shall be appointed by the President 

13 in agreement with leader of the Senate (majority or 

14 minority leader, as the case may be) of the Demo15 cratic Party and the leader of the House of Rep16 resentatives (majority or minority leader, as the case 

17 may be) of the Democratic Party. 

18 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

19 (1) QUALIFICATIONS.—The individuals ap20 pointed from private life as members of the Commis21 sion shall be individuals with distinguished reputa22 tions for integrity and nonpartisanship who are na23 tionally recognized for expertise, knowledge, or expe24 rience in such relevant areas as— 

25 (A) law enforcement; 


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1 (B) criminal justice; 

2 (C) national security; 

3 (D) prison and jail administration; 

4 (E) prisoner reentry; 

5 (F) public health, including physical and 

6 sexual victimization, drug addiction and mental 

7 health; 

8 (G) victims’ rights; 

9 (H) civil rights; 

10 (I) civil liberties; 

11 (J) court administration; 

12 (K) social services; and 

13 (L) State, local, and tribal government. 

14 (2) DISQUALIFICATION.—An individual shall 

15 not be appointed as a member of the Commission if 

16 such individual possesses any personal financial in17 terest in the discharge of any of the duties of the 

18 Commission. 

19 (3) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed for 

20 the life of the Commission. 

21 (c) APPOINTMENT; FIRST MEETING.— 

22 (1) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Commis23 sion shall be appointed not later than 45 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (2) FIRST MEETING.—The Commission shall 

2 hold its first meeting on the date that is 60 days 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, or not later 

4 than 30 days after the date on which funds are 

5 made available for the Commission, whichever is 

6 later. 

7 (3) ETHICS.—At the first meeting of the Com8 mission, the Commission shall draft appropriate eth9 ics guidelines for commissioners and staff, including 

10 guidelines relating to conflict of interest and finan11 cial disclosure. The Commission shall consult with 

12 the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary 

13 as a part of drafting the guidelines and furnish the 

14 committees with a copy of the completed guidelines. 

15 (d) MEETINGS; QUORUM; VACANCIES.— 

16 (1) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 

17 the call of the co-chairs or a majority of its mem18 bers. 

19 (2) QUORUM.—Eight members of the Commis20 sion shall constitute a quorum for purposes of con21 ducting business, except that 2 members of the 

22 Commission shall constitute a quorum for purposes 

23 of receiving testimony. 

24 (3) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commis25 sion shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in 


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1 the same manner in which the original appointment 

2 was made. If vacancies in the Commission occur on 

3 any day after 45 days after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act, a quorum shall consist of a major5 ity of the members of the Commission as of such 

6 day, so long as not less than 1 Commission member 

7 chosen by a member of each party, Republican and 

8 Democratic, is present. 

9 (e) ACTIONS OF COMMISSION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission— 

11 (A) shall, subject to the requirements of 

12 section 5, act by resolution agreed to by a ma13 jority of the members of the Commission voting 

14 and present; and 

15 (B) may establish panels composed of less 

16 than the full membership of the Commission for 

17 purposes of carrying out the duties of the Com18 mission under this title— 

19 (i) which shall be subject to the review 

20 and control of the Commission; and 

21 (ii) any findings and determinations 

22 made by such a panel shall not be consid23 ered the findings and determinations of the 

24 Commission unless approved by the Com25 mission. 


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1 (2) DELEGATION.—Any member, agent, or staff 

2 of the Commission may, if authorized by the co3 chairs of the Commission, take any action which the 

4 Commission is authorized to take pursuant to this 

5 Act. 

6 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION. 

7 (a) STAFF.— 

8 (1) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Commission 

9 shall have a staff headed by an Executive Director. 

10 The Executive Director shall be paid at a rate estab11 lished for the Certified Plan pay level for the Senior 

12 Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5, 

13 United States Code. 

14 (2) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.—The 

15 co-chairs of the Commission shall designate and fix 

16 the compensation of the Executive Director and, in 

17 accordance with rules agreed upon by the Commis18 sion, may appoint and fix the compensation of such 

19 other personnel as may be necessary to enable the 

20 Commission to carry out its functions, without re21 gard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, 

22 governing appointments in the competitive service, 

23 and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 

24 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relat25 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates, 


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1 except that no rate of pay fixed under this sub2 section may exceed the equivalent of that payable for 

3 a position at level V of the Executive Schedule under 

4 section 5316 of title 5, United States Code. 

5 (3) PERSONNEL AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Executive Director 

7 and any personnel of the Commission who are 

8 employees shall be employees under section 

9 2105 of title 5, United States Code, for pur10 poses of chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, 

11 and 90 of that title. 

12 (B) MEMBERS OF COMMISSION.—Subpara13 graph (A) shall not be construed to apply to 

14 members of the Commission. 

15 (4) THE COMPENSATION OF COMMISSIONERS.— 

16 Each member of the Commission may be com17 pensated at not to exceed the daily equivalent of the 

18 annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at 

19 level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 

20 of title 5, United States Code, for each day during 

21 which that member is engaged in the actual per22 formance of the duties of the Commission. All mem23 bers of the Commission who are officers or employ24 ees of the United States, State, or local government 


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1 shall serve without compensation in addition to that 

2 received for their services as officers or employees. 

3 (5) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from 

4 their homes or regular places of business in the per5 formance of services for the Commission, members 

6 of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, 

7 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the 

8 same manner as persons employed intermittently in 

9 the Government service are allowed expenses under 

10 section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (b) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—With the ap12 proval of the Commission, the Executive Director may 

13 procure temporary and intermittent services under section 

14 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

15 (c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Upon 

16 the request of the Commission, the head of any Federal 

17 agency may detail, without reimbursement, any of the per18 sonnel of such agency to the Commission to assist in car19 rying out the duties of the Commission. Any such detail 

20 shall not interrupt or otherwise affect the civil service sta21 tus or privileges of the Federal employee. 

22 (d) OTHER RESOURCES.—The Commission shall 

23 have reasonable access to materials, resources, statistical 

24 data, and other information such Commission determines 

25 to be necessary to carry out its duties from the Library 


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1 of Congress, the Department of Justice, the Office of Na2 tional Drug Control Policy, the Department of State, and 

3 other agencies of the executive and legislative branches of 

4 the Federal Government. The co-chairs of the Commission 

5 shall make requests for such access in writing when nec6 essary. 

7 (e) VOLUNTEER SERVICES.—Notwithstanding the 

8 provisions of section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, 

9 the Commission is authorized to accept and utilize the 

10 services of volunteers serving without compensation. The 

11 Commission may reimburse such volunteers for local travel 

12 and office supplies, and for other travel expenses, includ13 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by sec14 tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code. A person pro15 viding volunteer services to the Commission shall be con16 sidered an employee of the Federal Government in per17 formance of those services for the purposes of chapter 81 

18 of title 5, United States Code, relating to compensation 

19 for work-related injuries, chapter 171 of title 28, United 

20 States Code, relating to tort claims, and chapter 11 of 

21 title 18, United States Code, relating to conflicts of inter22 est. 

23 (f) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

24 may secure directly from any agency of the United States 

25 information necessary to enable it to carry out this Act. 


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1 Upon the request of the co-chairs of the Commission, the 

2 head of that department or agency shall furnish that infor3 mation to the Commission. The Commission shall not have 

4 access to sensitive information regarding ongoing inves5 tigations. 

6 (g) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United 

7 States mails in the same manner and under the same con8 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United 

9 States. 

10 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTING.—The Commission 

11 shall issue biannual status reports to Congress regarding 

12 the use of resources, salaries, and all expenditures of ap13 propriated funds. 

14 (i) CONTRACTS.—The Commission is authorized to 

15 enter into contracts with Federal and State agencies, pri16 vate firms, institutions, and individuals for the conduct of 

17 activities necessary to the discharge of its duties and re18 sponsibilities. A contract, lease or other legal agreement 

19 entered into by the Commission may not extend beyond 

20 the date of the termination of the Commission. 

21 (j) GIFTS.—Subject to existing law, the Commission 

22 may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of serv23 ices or property. 

24 (k) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Adminis25 trator of General Services shall provide to the CommisVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Mar 14, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S573.IS S573

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1 sion, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative support 

2 services necessary for the Commission to carry out its re3 sponsibilities under this Act. These administrative services 

4 may include human resource management, budget, leas5 ing, accounting, and payroll services. 

6 (l) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA AND PUBLIC AC7 CESS TO MEETINGS AND MINUTES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Advisory Com9 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the 

10 Commission. 

11 (2) MEETINGS AND MINUTES.— 

12 (A) MEETINGS.— 

13 (i) ADMINISTRATION.—All meetings of 

14 the Commission shall be open to the pub15 lic, except that a meeting or any portion of 

16 it may be closed to the public if it concerns 

17 matters or information described in section 

18 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code. In19 terested persons shall be permitted to ap20 pear at open meetings and present oral or 

21 written statements on the subject matter 

22 of the meeting. The Commission may ad23 minister oaths or affirmations to any per24 son appearing before it. 


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1 (ii) NOTICE.—All open meetings of 

2 the Commission shall be preceded by time3 ly public notice in the Federal Register of 

4 the time, place, and subject of the meeting. 

5 (B) MINUTES AND PUBLIC AVAIL6 ABILITY.—Minutes of each open meeting shall 

7 be kept and shall contain a record of the people 

8 present, a description of the discussion that oc9 curred, and copies of all statements filed. The 

10 minutes and records of all open meetings and 

11 other documents that were made available to or 

12 prepared for the Commission shall be available 

13 for public inspection and copying at a single lo14 cation in the offices of the Commission. 

15 (m) ARCHIVING.—Not later than the date of termi16 nation of the Commission, all records and papers of the 

17 Commission shall be delivered to the Archivist of the 

18 United States for deposit in the National Archives. 

19 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF FUNDS. 

20 For each of fiscal years 2017 and 2018, the Attorney 

21 General may use, from any unobligated balances made 

22 available under the heading ‘‘GENERAL ADMINISTRA23 TION’’ to the Department of Justice in an appropriations 

24 Act, such amounts as are necessary, not to exceed 

25 $7,000,000 per fiscal year and not to exceed $14,000,000 


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1 total for both fiscal years, to carry out this Act, except 

2 that none of the funds authorized to be used to carry out 

3 this Act may be used for international travel. 

4 SEC. 9. SUNSET. 

5 The Commission shall terminate 60 days after the 

6 Commission submits the report required under section 

7 5(c) to Congress. 

Æ 


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