I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9045 

To prohibit searches based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or 

sex, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 21, 2020 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. JEFFRIES) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit searches based on race, ethnicity, national origin, 

religion, or sex, 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 ‘‘Citizen Justice Res5 toration Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRETEXTUAL ACTION UNDER COLOR OF LAW. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—A person, acting under color of 

8 State or Federal law, may not base, to any degree, a deci9 sion to search, seize, or scrutinize an individual on actual 

10 or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or sex 


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1 (including gender, gender identity, and sexual orienta2 tion). 

3 (b) INADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE.—Except as pro4 vided in subsection (c), evidence obtained as a result of 

5 such a search or seizure in violation of subsection (a) shall 

6 not be admissible to be offered as evidence against a de7 fendant— 

8 (1) in any Federal or State criminal proceeding, 

9 including a proceeding for revocation of parole and 

10 probation; or 

11 (2) in any civil enforcement proceeding brought 

12 by the United States, any State, or any agency or 

13 political subdivision thereof. 

14 (c) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply in 

15 the case of a search or seizure that was motivated by rea16 sonable suspicion based on specific and articulable facts 

17 that include trustworthy distinguishing information, rel18 evant to the locality and timeframe, about an individual 

19 who committed an identified crime, which information in20 cludes a particular characteristic described in subsection 

21 (a), if that distinguishing information is sufficiently spe22 cific that it does not describe a substantial subset of indi23 viduals sharing that characteristic, or of individuals of the 

24 relevant age sharing that characteristic. 


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1 SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY OF THE CONSTITUTION, LAWS, AND 

2 TREATIES OF THE UNITED STATES ON COL3 LATERAL REVIEW. 

4 (a) GRANT OF HABEAS CORPUS WHEN JUDGMENT

5 IN ERROR.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

6 an application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of 

7 a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State 

8 court shall be granted with respect to any Federal claim 

9 that was adjudicated on the merits in State court pro10 ceedings, which adjudication was in error. 

11 (b) NEW CONSTITUTIONAL RULES.—Notwith12 standing any other provision of law, in the case of a new 

13 rule of constitutional law announced by the United States 

14 Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals, or 

15 the United States District Court— 

16 (1) such rule shall be retroactive to cases on 

17 collateral review; 

18 (2) an application for a writ of habeas corpus 

19 raising a claim under such rule may be made at any 

20 time; and 

21 (3) a second or successive application for a writ 

22 of habeas corpus may be made seeking the benefit 

23 of such rule regardless of whether the same claim 

24 was presented in a prior application made prior to 

25 the announcement of the new rule. 


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1 SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 (a) LAWS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION.—An ambiguity 

3 in a statute that provides protection against discrimina4 tion on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, 

5 religion, disability, or sex (including gender, gender iden6 tity, and sexual orientation) shall be construed in the man7 ner that will provide the greatest protection against such 

8 discrimination. For purposes of this subsection, the Reli9 gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 

10 2000bb–1) is not a statute that provides protection 

11 against discrimination on the basis of religion. 

12 (b) OTHER LAWS.—An ambiguity in a statute de13 signed to provide protection for freedom of speech or of 

14 the press, or for individual informational privacy, or for 

15 the environment, or for consumers, shall be construed in 

16 the manner that will provide the greatest protection for 

17 freedom of speech or of the press, or for individual infor18 mational privacy, for the environment, or for consumers, 

19 respectively. 

20 (c) CONSTITUTIONAL AVOIDANCE.—No statute de21 scribed in this section shall be construed so as to avoid 

22 a constitutional question if that construction differs from 

23 the construction required under this section. 

24 (d) LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec25 tion may be construed to prevent the liberal construction 


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1 of any statute not specified in this section, in order to 

2 serve its remedial purpose. 

3 SEC. 5. PRIVATE RIGHTS OF ACTION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law, an individual may bring an action in the ap6 propriate district court of the United States seeking dam7 ages and injunctive relief for a violation of a Federal law 

8 or regulation if the individual— 

9 (1) is within a class of individuals that the law 

10 or regulation was intended to or does benefit; and 

11 (2) was harmed by the violation of the law or 

12 regulation, 

13 regardless of whether the law or regulation provides such 

14 a private right of action, or provides other enforcement 

15 mechanisms. 

16 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply in 

17 the case of a Federal law or regulation that explicitly pre18 cludes a private right of action. 

19 SEC. 6. BOUNTY FOR CITIZEN SUITS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action brought under 

21 any citizen suit provision under a Federal law, in which 

22 the plaintiff prevails in whole or in part, the court shall 

23 award the plaintiff a bounty of $100 to be paid by the 

24 defendant against whom the plaintiff prevailed. 


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1 (b) MULTIPLE PLAINTIFFS.—In the case of a civil 

2 action described in subsection (a) in which there are mul3 tiple plaintiffs, the court shall divide the award under sub4 section (a) equally among the plaintiffs. 

5 (c) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—In the case of 

6 a civil action described in subsection (a) in which there 

7 are multiple defendants, such defendants are jointly and 

8 severally liable for the award described in subsection (a). 

9 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

10 If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof 

11 to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remain12 der of the Act, and the application of such provision to 

13 other persons or circumstances shall not be affected there14 by. 

Æ 


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