I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7488 

To reform pattern and practice investigations conducted by the Department 

of Justice, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 2, 2020 

Mr. RICHMOND (for himself, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. HASTINGS) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To reform pattern and 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RESCISSION OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MEMO7 RANDUM RELATING TO CIVIL CONSENT DE8 CREES. 

9 The memorandum issued by the Attorney General ti10 tled ‘‘Principles and Procedures for Civil Consent Decrees 


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1 and Settlement Agreements with State and Local Govern2 mental Entities’’ on November 8, 2018, or any other sub3 stantially similar memorandum, shall have no force or ef4 fect. 

5 SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR PATTERN OR PRACTICE INVESTIGA6 TIONS. 

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

8 be appropriated, in addition to any other amounts author9 ized, $445,000,000 to the Civil Rights Division of the De10 partment of Justice for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

11 2029, of which not less than $100,000,000 shall be made 

12 available each fiscal year for investigations conducted 

13 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and 

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

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

16 the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

17 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘in18 cluding a prosecutor or other agency involved in the ad19 ministration of justice,’’ before ‘‘to engage’’. 

20 (c) AUTHORITY FOR STATE INVESTIGATIONS.—Sec21 tion 210401(b) of the Violent Crime Control and Law En22 forcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(b)) is amend23 ed— 

24 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1) FEDERAL ENFORCE25 MENT.—’’ before ‘‘Whenever’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by strik2 ing ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 

3 and 

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

5 ‘‘(2) STATE ENFORCEMENT.— 

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

7 general of a State has reasonable cause to be8 lieve that a violation of subsection (a) has oc9 curred by a governmental authority, or agent 

10 thereof, of the State, including a prosecutor or 

11 other agency involved in the administration of 

12 justice, the attorney general, or another official 

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

14 action brought in any appropriate district court 

15 of the United States obtain appropriate equi16 table and declaratory relief to eliminate the pat17 tern or practice. 

18 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The At19 torney General shall provide technical assist20 ance and training to States and units of local 

21 government to assist States and units of local 

22 governments in carrying out pattern or practice 

23 investigations and cases.’’. 

24 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

25 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 


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

2 several States, the District of Columbia, and 

3 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of 

4 the United States; and 

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

6 the governing body of an Indian Tribe included 

7 on the most recent list published by the Sec8 retary pursuant to section 104 of the Federally 

9 Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 

10 U.S.C. 5131). 

11 (2) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General 

12 may award grants to States and Tribal governments 

13 to assist such States and Tribal governments in pur14 suing pattern or practice investigations and cases 

15 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control 

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

17 12601). 

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

19 grant under this subsection, a State or Tribal gov20 ernment shall submit an application to the Attorney 

21 General that— 

22 (A) contains clearly defined and measur23 able objectives for the grant funds; 

24 (B) describes how the State or Tribal gov25 ernment intends to use the grant funds to purVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Jul 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7488.IH H7488

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1 sue pattern or practice investigations and cases 

2 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Con3 trol and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 

4 U.S.C. 12601); and 

5 (C) outlines the qualifications and training 

6 of the attorneys, staff, and other personnel who 

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

8 pattern or practice investigations and cases. 

9 (4) REQUIRED REPORTING.— 

10 (A) GRANTEE REPORTING.—In each fiscal 

11 year a State or Tribal government receives a 

12 grant under this subsection, the State or Tribal 

13 government shall submit to the Attorney Gen14 eral a report detailing— 

15 (i) how the grant funds were used; 

16 and 

17 (ii) the progress made towards ad18 dressing patterns and practices identified 

19 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime 

20 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 

21 (34 U.S.C. 12601). 

22 (B) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

23 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

24 Act, and once each year thereafter, the Attor25 ney General shall submit to the Committee on 


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1 the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 

2 on the Judiciary of the House of Representa3 tives a report on the grant program established 

4 under this subsection, which shall include— 

5 (i) a detailed summary of how grant 

6 funds awarded under the grant program 

7 were used; and 

8 (ii) recommendations, if any, for im9 provements needed for the grant program. 

10 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 There are authorized to be appropriated to the At12 torney General $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

13 2020 through 2029 to carry out this subsection. 

Æ 


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