II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4424 

To withhold a percentage of Federal funding from State and local prosecutors 

who fail to faithfully prosecute crimes related to protests and riots. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 4, 2020 

Mrs. LOEFFLER (for herself and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To withhold a percentage of Federal funding from State 

and local prosecutors who fail to faithfully prosecute 

crimes related to protests and riots. 

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 ‘‘Holding Rioters Ac5 countable Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Opportunistic rioters and violent extremists 

9 are destroying public and private property with im10 punity. 


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1 (2) Local and Federal law enforcement officers 

2 are on the front lines every night attempting to pre3 vent the mass destruction of property. 

4 (3) Law enforcement officers are doing their 

5 jobs by arresting those who are found to be commit6 ting the violence and destruction. 

7 (4) In certain jurisdictions, however, local and 

8 State prosecutors are turning a blind eye to the de9 struction and violence. 

10 (5) These actions do a disservice to the law en11 forcement officers faithfully carrying out their re12 sponsibility to uphold the rule of law. 

13 (6) The Office of Justice Programs of the De14 partment of Justice provided approximately 

15 $5,000,000,000 in grants and funding to State and 

16 local governments in fiscal year 2020. 

17 (7) District attorney and State attorney general 

18 offices that have abused the use of prosecutorial dis19 cretion and fail to protect private and public prop20 erty or fail to confront and address violent riots and 

21 looting should not receive Federal support. 

22 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

23 authority for the Attorney General to withhold Federal 

24 grant amounts and other funding provided to State and 

25 local prosecutors, district attorneys, and State attorney 


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1 general offices if such prosecutors or offices fail to faith2 fully uphold the rule of law by failing to properly prosecute 

3 criminal acts committed during riots and protests. 

4 SEC. 3. WITHHOLDING OF PERCENTAGE OF DEPARTMENT 

5 OF JUSTICE GRANTS AND OTHER FUNDING 

6 SOURCES FROM STATE AND LOCAL PROSECU7 TORS, DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, AND STATE AT8 TORNEYS GENERAL. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may with10 hold not more than 10 percent of all amounts that would 

11 otherwise be awarded or made available under part JJ of 

12 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

13 of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10671 et seq.) or a COVID–19 related 

14 emergency funding program to a State prosecutor’s office, 

15 a district attorney’s office, or a State attorney general’s 

16 office in a fiscal year by the Department of Justice if the 

17 Attorney General determines, in accordance with sub18 section (b), that the office has abused the use of prosecu19 torial discretion by failing to prosecute crimes stemming 

20 from riots or other violent or destructive protest activities. 

21 (b) STANDARD FOR DETERMINATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State prosecutor’s office, 

23 a district attorney’s office, or a State attorney gen24 eral’s office shall be determined to have abused the 

25 prosecutorial discretion of the office under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4424.IS S4424

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1 section (a) if the office refuses, as a general policy 

2 rather than on a case-by-case determination, to seek 

3 prosecution for crimes committed by individuals en4 gaged in or connected to rioting, looting, or other 

5 violent or destructive activities, unless such policy is 

6 in accordance with an order issued by a court of law. 

7 (2) LIMITATION.—A State prosecutor’s office, a 

8 district attorney’s office, or a State attorney gen9 eral’s office shall not be determined to have abused 

10 the prosecutorial discretion of the office under sub11 section (a) if the Attorney General determines that 

12 such exercise of prosecutorial discretion is properly 

13 made based on the strength of evidence, individual 

14 facts in the case, cooperation of the defendant, or 

15 other appropriate prosecutorial decision making fac16 tors. 

17 (3) REQUIREMENT.—The Attorney General 

18 shall establish criteria for determining whether a 

19 State prosecutor’s office, a district attorney’s office, 

20 or a State attorney general’s office has abused the 

21 prosecutorial discretion of the office under sub22 section (a). 

23 (c) REVIEW OF RELEVANT INFORMATION.—In mak24 ing a determination under subsection (a), the Attorney 

25 General shall— 


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1 (1) review any arrest statistics, information, or 

2 documents, provided by a law enforcement agency 

3 that conducted authorized operations connected to a 

4 riot or other violent or destructive protest activity; 

5 (2) review any prosecution statistics, informa6 tion, or documents, provided by the office being re7 viewed relating to indictment, dismissal, or convic8 tion of individuals charged with any crime connected 

9 to a riot or other violent or destructive protest activ10 ity; and 

11 (3) review any statements, orders, or other in12 formation made by an executive political leader with 

13 responsibility for appointing or otherwise overseeing 

14 the operations and activities of the office being re15 viewed. 

16 (d) RESTRICTED USE OF FUNDS.—In the case of a 

17 State that the Attorney General determines is a State de18 scribed in subsection (a) because a local district attorney 

19 or prosecutor has abused prosecutorial discretion by fail20 ing to prosecute crimes stemming from riots or other vio21 lent or destructive protest activities, the State may not— 

22 (1) make the amounts made available under a 

23 program described in subsection (a) available for use 

24 by the local government; and 


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1 (2) to the maximum extent practicable, expend 

2 the amounts made available under a program de3 scribed in subsection (a) in any community or loca4 tion subject to the jurisdiction of the local govern5 ment. 

Æ 


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