I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8500 

To establish an electronic system by which members of the press may file 

a complaint with the Department of Justice alleging misconduct by 

Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2020 

Mr. TAKANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish an electronic system by which members of the 

press may file a complaint with the Department of Justice alleging misconduct by Federal, State, and local 

law enforcement agencies, 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 ‘‘Attacks on Free Press 

5 Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRESS COMPLAINTS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8500 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

3 General shall establish a electronic system by which 

4 members of the press may file a complaint with the 

5 Department of Justice alleging misconduct by Fed6 eral, State, and local law enforcement agencies and 

7 law enforcement officers of such agencies. 

8 (2) ATTACHMENTS.—The electronic system 

9 shall allow relevant media to be attached, including 

10 photos, videos, and audio recordings. 

11 (3) ANONYMOUS SUBMISSION.—A complaint 

12 may be filed anonymously under this section. 

13 (b) PROCEDURE.— 

14 (1) COMPLAINT.—A complaint may be filed 

15 under this section not later than 180 days after an 

16 incident has occurred, Such complaint shall include 

17 the following: 

18 (A) The date of this incident. 

19 (B) The name of each law enforcement of20 ficer involved. 

21 (C) A detailed description of the incident. 

22 (D) Any legal justification or motivation 

23 that was provided to the individual by a law en24 forcement officer to justify the law enforcement 

25 action taken. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8500 IH

1 (E) If applicable, any property searched, 

2 damaged, or seized during the incident. 

3 (F) If applicable, any audio or visual re4 cordings of the incident between the law en5 forcement officer and press materials or mis6 cellaneous documentation with respect to the in7 cident. 

8 (2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

9 after a complaint has been filed with the Depart10 ment of Justice, the Attorney General shall notify 

11 the law enforcement agency that is the subject of the 

12 complaint that the complaint has been filed and pro13 vide the details of the complaint. 

14 (3) RESPONSE.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any Federal, State, or 

16 local law enforcement agency that is the subject 

17 of a complaint shall respond not later than 60 

18 days after receipt of the notice of the complaint 

19 under paragraph (2). 

20 (B) CONTENTS OF RESPONSE.—A re21 sponse to the complaint shall include the fol22 lowing: 

23 (i) The date of the incident. 

24 (ii) The name of each law enforce25 ment officer involved. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8500 IH

1 (iii) A detailed description of the inci2 dent. 

3 (iv) Any legal justification or motiva4 tion that was provided to the individual by 

5 the law enforcement officer to justify the 

6 law enforcement action taken. 

7 (v) If applicable, any property 

8 searched, damaged, or seized during the 

9 incident. 

10 (vi) If applicable, any audio or visual 

11 recordings of the incident between the law 

12 enforcement officer and press materials or 

13 miscellaneous documentation that supports 

14 the justification for the law enforcement 

15 action taken. 

16 (C) BYRNE ENFORCEMENT.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—If a State or unit 

18 of local government fails to comply with 

19 this paragraph for a fiscal year, the State 

20 or unit of local government shall be subject 

21 to a 50 percent reduction of the amount 

22 that would otherwise by awarded in the fol23 lowing fiscal year to that State or unit of 

24 local government under subpart 1 of part 

25 E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8500 IH

1 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

2 10151 et seq.). 

3 (ii) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not al4 located to a State or unit of local govern5 ment for failure to comply with paragraph 

6 (3) shall be reallocated to States and units 

7 of local government that have complied 

8 with such paragraph in accordance with 

9 subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omni10 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

11 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.). 

12 (D) 1033 PROGRAM ENFORCEMENT.—If 

13 the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with 

14 the Attorney General, determines that a State 

15 has failed to respond to 3 or more complaints 

16 during a fiscal year, the State may not receive 

17 a transfer under section 2576a of title 10, 

18 United States Code, until such time as the Sec19 retary of Defense, in consultation with the At20 torney General, determines that the State is in 

21 compliance with the requirements of this Act. 

22 (c) MEMBER OF THE PRESS DEFINED.—In this sec23 tion, the term member of the press means any individual 

24 who works in the gathering, processing, disseminating, 

25 and delivery of news and information that serves the pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8500.IH H8500

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8500 IH

1 lic interest to the public through mass media, including 

2 television, radio, and newspapers. 

3 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORT. 

4 Not later than 30 days after the end of each calendar 

5 year, the Attorney General shall make available to the 

6 public on the Department of Justice website a report that 

7 includes a compilation of the complaints received under 

8 section 2 with personally identifiable information of in9 volved parties redacted. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS