II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4170 

To reform pattern or practice investigations conducted by the Department 

of Justice, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 2, 2020 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

MARKEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. HEINRICH, and Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform pattern or practice investigations conducted by 

the Department of Justice, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Enhancing Oversight 

5 to End Discrimination in Policing Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RESCISSION OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MEMO2 RANDUM RELATING TO CIVIL CONSENT DE3 CREES. 

4 The memorandum issued by the Attorney General ti5 tled ‘‘Principles and Procedures for Civil Consent Decrees 

6 and Settlement Agreements with State and Local Govern7 mental Entities’’ on November 8, 2018, or any other sub8 stantially similar memorandum, shall have no force or ef9 fect. 

10 SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR PATTERN OR PRACTICE INVESTIGA11 TIONS. 

12 (a) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—There are authorized to 

13 be appropriated, in addition to any other amounts author14 ized, $445,000,000 to the Civil Rights Division of the De15 partment of Justice for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

16 2029, of which not less than $100,000,000 shall be made 

17 available each fiscal year for investigations conducted 

18 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and 

19 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601). 

20 (b) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—Section 210401(a) of 

21 the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

22 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘in23 cluding a prosecutor or other agency involved in the ad24 ministration of justice,’’ before ‘‘to engage’’. 

25 (c) AUTHORITY FOR STATE INVESTIGATIONS.—Sec26 tion 210401(b) of the Violent Crime Control and Law EnVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4170.IS S4170

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1 forcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(b)) is amend2 ed— 

3 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1) FEDERAL ENFORCE4 MENT.—’’ before ‘‘Whenever’’; 

5 (2) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by strik6 ing ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 

7 and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) STATE ENFORCEMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever an attorney 

11 general of a State has reasonable cause to be12 lieve that a violation of subsection (a) has oc13 curred by a governmental authority, or agent 

14 thereof, of the State, including a prosecutor or 

15 other agency involved in the administration of 

16 justice, the attorney general, or another official 

17 or agency designated by a State, may in a civil 

18 action brought in any appropriate district court 

19 of the United States obtain appropriate equi20 table and declaratory relief to eliminate the pat21 tern or practice. 

22 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The At23 torney General shall provide technical assist24 ance and training to States and units of local 

25 government to assist States and units of local 


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1 governments in carrying out pattern or practice 

2 investigations and cases.’’. 

3 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

5 (A) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 

6 several States, the District of Columbia, and 

7 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of 

8 the United States; and 

9 (B) the term ‘‘Tribal government’’ means 

10 the governing body of an Indian Tribe included 

11 on the most recent list published by the Sec12 retary pursuant to section 104 of the Federally 

13 Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 

14 U.S.C. 5131). 

15 (2) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General 

16 may award grants to States and Tribal governments 

17 to assist such States and Tribal governments in pur18 suing pattern or practice investigations and cases 

19 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control 

20 and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 

21 12601). 

22 (3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

23 grant under this subsection, a State or Tribal gov24 ernment shall submit an application to the Attorney 

25 General that— 


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1 (A) contains clearly defined and measur2 able objectives for the grant funds; 

3 (B) describes how the State or Tribal gov4 ernment intends to use the grant funds to pur5 sue pattern or practice investigations and cases 

6 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Con7 trol and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 

8 U.S.C. 12601); and 

9 (C) outlines the qualifications and training 

10 of the attorneys, staff, and other personnel who 

11 are, or who may be, assigned to lead or assist 

12 pattern or practice investigations and cases. 

13 (4) REQUIRED REPORTING.— 

14 (A) GRANTEE REPORTING.—In each fiscal 

15 year a State or Tribal government receives a 

16 grant under this subsection, the State or Tribal 

17 government shall submit to the Attorney Gen18 eral a report detailing— 

19 (i) how the grant funds were used; 

20 and 

21 (ii) the progress made towards ad22 dressing patterns and practices identified 

23 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime 

24 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 

25 (34 U.S.C. 12601). 


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1 (B) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

2 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

3 Act, and once each year thereafter, the Attor4 ney General shall submit to the Committee on 

5 the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 

6 on the Judiciary of the House of Representa7 tives a report on the grant program established 

8 under this subsection, which shall include— 

9 (i) a detailed summary of how grant 

10 funds awarded under the grant program 

11 were used; and 

12 (ii) recommendations, if any, for im13 provements needed for the grant program. 

14 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to the At16 torney General $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

17 2020 through 2029 to carry out this subsection. 

Æ 


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