I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8980 

To provide for the resentencing and expungement of nonviolent offenses 

for individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 16, 2020 

Mr. HALL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the resentencing and expungement of nonviolent offenses for individuals adversely impacted by the 

War on Drugs, 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 ‘‘Nonviolent Drug 

5 Crime Expungement Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RESENTENCING AND EXPUNGEMENT. 

7 (a) EXPUNGEMENT OF FEDERAL NONVIOLENT OF8 FENSE CONVICTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS NOT UNDER A

9 CRIMINAL JUSTICE SENTENCE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, each Federal 

3 district shall conduct a comprehensive review and 

4 issue an order expunging each conviction or adju5 dication of juvenile delinquency for a Federal non6 violent offense entered by each Federal court in the 

7 district before the date of enactment of this Act, for 

8 each individual adversely impacted by the War on 

9 Drugs. Each Federal court shall also issue an order 

10 expunging any arrests associated with each ex11 punged conviction or adjudication of juvenile delin12 quency. 

13 (2) NOTIFICATION.—To the extent practicable, 

14 each Federal district shall notify each individual 

15 whose arrest, conviction, or adjudication of delin16 quency has been expunged pursuant to this sub17 section that their arrest, conviction, or adjudication 

18 of juvenile delinquency has been expunged, and the 

19 effect of such expungement. 

20 (3) RIGHT TO PETITION COURT FOR

21 EXPUNGEMENT.—At any point after the date of en22 actment of this Act, any individual adversely im23 pacted by the War on Drugs with a prior conviction 

24 or adjudication of juvenile delinquency for a Federal 

25 nonviolent offense, who is not under a criminal jusVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8980.IH H8980

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1 tice sentence, may file a motion for expungement. If 

2 the expungement of such a conviction or adjudica3 tion of juvenile delinquency is required pursuant to 

4 this Act, the court shall expunge the conviction or 

5 adjudication, and any associated arrests. If the indi6 vidual is indigent, counsel shall be appointed to rep7 resent the individual in any proceedings under this 

8 subsection. 

9 (4) SEALED RECORD.—The court shall seal all 

10 records related to a conviction or adjudication of ju11 venile delinquency that has been expunged under 

12 this subsection. Such records may only be made 

13 available by further order of the court. 

14 (b) SENTENCING REVIEW FOR INDIVIDUALS UNDER

15 A CRIMINAL JUSTICE SENTENCE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—For any individual adversely 

17 impacted by the War on Drugs who is under a 

18 criminal justice sentence for a Federal nonviolent of19 fense, the court that imposed the sentence shall, on 

20 motion of the individual, the Director of the Bureau 

21 of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or the 

22 court, conduct a sentencing review hearing. If the in23 dividual is indigent, counsel shall be appointed to 

24 represent the individual in any sentencing review 

25 proceedings under this subsection. 


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1 (2) POTENTIAL REDUCED RESENTENCING.— 

2 After a sentencing hearing under paragraph (1), a 

3 court shall— 

4 (A) expunge each conviction or adjudica5 tion of juvenile delinquency for a Federal non6 violent offense entered by the court before the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, and any associ8 ated arrest; 

9 (B) vacate the existing sentence or disposi10 tion of juvenile delinquency and, if applicable, 

11 impose any remaining sentence or disposition of 

12 juvenile delinquency on the individual as if this 

13 Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

14 were in effect at the time the offense was com15 mitted; and 

16 (C) order that all records related to a con17 viction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency 

18 that has been expunged or a sentence or dis19 position of juvenile delinquency that has been 

20 vacated under this Act be sealed and only be 

21 made available by further order of the court. 

22 (c) EFFECT OF EXPUNGEMENT.—An individual who 

23 has had an arrest, a conviction, or juvenile delinquency 

24 adjudication expunged under this section— 


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1 (1) may treat the arrest, conviction, or adju2 dication as if it never occurred; and 

3 (2) shall be immune from any civil or criminal 

4 penalties related to perjury, false swearing, or false 

5 statements, for a failure to disclose such arrest, con6 viction, or adjudication. 

7 (d) EXCEPTION.—An individual who at sentencing 

8 received an aggravating role adjustment pursuant to 

9 United States Sentencing Guideline 3B1.1(a) in relation 

10 to a Federal nonviolent offense conviction shall not be eli11 gible for expungement of that conviction under this sec12 tion. 

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) The term ‘‘expunge’’ means, with respect to 

15 an arrest, a conviction, or a juvenile delinquency ad16 judication, the removal of the record of such arrest, 

17 conviction, or adjudication from each official index 

18 or public record. 

19 (2) The term ‘‘under a criminal justice sen20 tence’’ means, with respect to an individual, that the 

21 individual is serving a term of probation, parole, su22 pervised release, imprisonment, official detention, 

23 pre-release custody, or work release, pursuant to a 

24 sentence or disposition of juvenile delinquency. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘individual adversely impacted by 

2 the War on Drugs’’ means an individual who has 

3 been arrested for or convicted of the sale, possession, 

4 use, manufacture, or cultivation of cannabis, co5 caine, or crack (except for a conviction involving dis6 tribution to a minor), or whose parent, sibling, 

7 spouse, or child has been arrested for or convicted 

8 of such an offense. 

9 (4) The term ‘‘nonviolent offense’’means an of10 fense that— 

11 (A) does not have as an element the use, 

12 attempted use, or threatened use of physical 

13 force against the person or property of another; 

14 or 

15 (B) is not a felony that by its nature in16 volves a substantial risk that physical force 

17 against the person or property of another may 

18 be used in the course of committing the offense. 

19 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

20 GRANTS. 

21 Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after 

22 the date that is one year after the date of enactment of 

23 this Act, in order to be eligible for a grant made by the 

24 Department of Justice, a State shall have in place a resen25 tencing and expungement program that is substantially 


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1 similar to the program under section 2 for nonviolent of2 fenses under the laws of that State. 

Æ 


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