I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8976 

To clarify access to courts of the United States for persons seeking redress 

for a violation of a constitutional right by the United States or any 

agent, person, or entity acting in the name of the United States, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 16, 2020 

Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To clarify access to courts of the United States for persons 

seeking redress for a violation of a constitutional right 

by the United States or any agent, person, or entity 

acting in the name of the United States, 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 ‘‘Access to the American 

5 Courts Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The United States Constitution sets forth 

2 limits on the ability of the United States to act. 

3 (2) The Constitution would not have been 

4 adopted and therefore the United States of America 

5 would not have been formed or come into existence 

6 unless the Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments 

7 to the Constitution, had not been adopted prior to 

8 its approval by the first 13 States forming the 

9 United States of America. 

10 (3) The right of the American people to hold 

11 the United States accountable for violations of the 

12 Constitution committed by people acting allegedly in 

13 the name of the United States has been the corner14 stone and bedrock upon which the freedom of the 

15 American people has been based. 

16 (4) The right of the American people to come 

17 before a court and seek redress and thereby hold the 

18 Government of the United States accountable for 

19 violations of the Constitution is now seriously dis20 puted. 

21 (5) The Executive Branch of the United States 

22 Government has asserted, in actions filed in the 

23 United States courts by Americans seeking redress 

24 for alleged Constitutional violations, that no one can 

25 sue the Government, even for a Constitutional violaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8976.IH H8976

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1 tion, unless the Government first agrees to be sued. 

2 The Executive Branch has asserted an overbroad in3 terpretation of the extent of sovereign immunity, 

4 which bars suits against the Government based on 

5 statutory violations, to now include suits based on 

6 Constitutional violations as well. 

7 (6) The effect of the Executive Branch’s exten8 sion of sovereign immunity so as to include constitu9 tional rights as well as statutory rights would be 

10 that— 

11 (A) the Bill of Rights would be converted 

12 to a mere bill of suggested rights; and 

13 (B) constitutional rights would be enforce14 able only when and if the Government deigns to 

15 grant permission for their individual enforce16 ment on a case-by-case basis. 

17 (7) The Bill of Rights and the other Amend18 ments to the Constitution are not mere suggestions, 

19 but the inherent and enforceable rights possessed by 

20 all American people. These Amendments grant to all 

21 Americans the right to seek redress for Constitu22 tional violations committed in the name of the 

23 United States without first having to obtain the per24 mission of the Government before seeking such re25 dress in Federal court. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) all Americans should have access to Federal 

4 courts in order to seek relief and redress for alleged 

5 claims of violations of constitutional rights; and 

6 (2) the doctrine of sovereign immunity, as well 

7 as any assertion of any statute of limitation or equi8 table laches (under equity or statute) was never in9 tended to bar, restrict, hinder or otherwise delay ac10 cess to court or the filing of a claim seeking relief 

11 or redress against the Government for an alleged 

12 violation of a constitutional right. 

13 SEC. 4. JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS. 

14 The district courts of the United States shall have 

15 jurisdiction to hear any complaint or claim for relief based 

16 upon an alleged violation of a constitutional right by the 

17 United States or any agent, person or entity acting in the 

18 name of the United States. Each such court has authority 

19 to grant any relief necessary to redress a violation of a 

20 constitutional right, including monetary, injunctive, and 

21 declaratory relief. 

22 SEC. 5. RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. 

23 A person filing an action in a district court of the 

24 United States seeking redress for a violation of a constitu25 tional right by the United States or any agent, person, 

26 or entity acting in the name of the United States shall 


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1 have the right to request a jury trial. In the case of an 

2 action containing both constitutional and non-constitu3 tional claims against the United States, the court shall 

4 grant jury trial for all claims, and shall grant a jury trial 

5 for the constitutional claims. 

6 SEC. 6. ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS. 

7 In the case that the plaintiff prevails in an action 

8 brought against the United States seeking redress for a 

9 violation of a constitutional right by the United States or 

10 any agent, person, or entity acting in the name of the 

11 United States, the court shall award the plaintiff attorney 

12 fees and costs. 

Æ 


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