I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7144 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the reckless use of 

excessive force under the color of law, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 8, 2020 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. MFUME, Mr. RYAN, and Mr. CARSON of Indiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the reckless use of excessive force under the color of law, 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 ‘‘Law Enforcement 

5 Oversight and Reform Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EXCESSIVE FORCE, RESPIRATORY 

2 CHOKEHOLDS UNDER THE COLOR OF LAW. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 250. Excessive force under the color of law 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, being a law enforce8 ment officer, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, 

9 regulation, or custom, subjects any person in any State, 

10 Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District, reck11 lessly subjects any person to force in violation of the 

12 Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable 

13 seizures, shall be punished as provided in subsection (c). 

14 ‘‘(b) CHOKEHOLDS.—A respiratory chokehold shall 

15 not be considered force that is reasonably necessary under 

16 subsection (a). 

17 ‘‘(c) PUNISHMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The punishment for an of19 fense under this section is a fine of not less than 

20 $10,000, imprisonment under paragraph (2), or 

21 both. 

22 ‘‘(2) TERM OF IMPRISONMENT.—The term of 

23 imprisonment for an offense under this section is— 

24 ‘‘(A) if death results, for any term of years 

25 or for life, but no less than 10 years; 


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1 ‘‘(B) if serious bodily injury other than 

2 death results, for not more than 10 years, but 

3 no less than 5 years; and 

4 ‘‘(C) in any other case, for not more than 

5 3 years, but no less than one year. 

6 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec7 tion shall be construed to limit the Attorney General’s re8 sponsibilities or provision of relief under section 210401 

9 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 

10 of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601). 

11 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—The term ‘law enforcement offi12 cer’— 

13 ‘‘(1) means an official empowered by law to 

14 conduct investigations of, to make arrests for, or to 

15 detain individuals suspected or convicted of, criminal 

16 or civil offenses; and 

17 ‘‘(2) includes an official ordered to perform a 

18 function described in paragraph (1) by a superior 

19 empowered to do so under law, or by Executive 

20 order. 

21 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—On the date that is one year after the 

22 date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, 

23 the Attorney General shall submit to the Committees on 

24 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the 

25 Senate a report that includes a description of and the 


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1 number of convictions under this section during the pre2 vious year.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

4 for chapter 13 of title 18 is amended by adding after the 

5 item related to section 249 the following: 

‘‘250. Excessive force under the color of law.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. APPLICATION TO STATES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State or unit of local govern8 ment may not receive funds that the jurisdiction would 

9 otherwise receive under subpart 1 of part E of title I of 

10 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

11 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) for any fiscal year in which 

12 the jurisdiction does not have in place a law that is con13 sistent with section 250 of title 18, United States Code, 

14 as determined by the Attorney General. 

15 (b) SUBSEQUENT ENACTMENT AFTER DENIAL OF

16 FUNDS.—In the case that funds are withheld from a State 

17 or other jurisdiction pursuant to subsection (a), and the 

18 State or other jurisdiction subsequently enacts or puts in 

19 place a law described in subsection (a), and demonstrates 

20 substantial efforts to enforce such law, the State or other 

21 jurisdiction shall be eligible, in the subsequent fiscal year, 

22 to receive the total amount that the State or other juris23 diction would have received in each fiscal year for which 

24 funds were withheld, not to exceed funds that the jurisdicVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7144.IH H7144

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1 tion would have received during the previous 2-year pe2 riod. 

3 (c) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply begin4 ning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date that 

5 is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (d) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 30 days after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

8 shall publish in the Federal Register interim final rules 

9 implementing this section. The Attorney General shall fi10 nalize such rules not later than 90 days after the date 

11 of publication of the interim final rules. 

Æ 


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