I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5236 

To establish an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights Division of 

the Department of Justice, and an Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Investigative Office in the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2006 

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. 

MCCARTHY, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. BROWN

of Ohio, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, and Mr. SCHIFF) 

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

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights 

Division of the Department of Justice, and an Unsolved 

Civil Rights Crime Investigative Office in the Civil Rights 

Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 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 ‘‘Unsolved Civil Rights 

5 Crime Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that all authorities with 

3 jurisdiction, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

4 and other entities within the Department of Justice, 

5 should— 

6 (1) expeditiously investigate unsolved civil 

7 rights murders, due to the amount of time that has 

8 passed since the murders and the age of potential 

9 witnesses; and 

10 (2) provide all the resources necessary to ensure 

11 timely and thorough investigations in the cases in12 volved. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) CHIEF.—The term ‘‘Chief’’ means the Chief 

16 of the Section. 

17 (2) CHIEF INVESTIGATOR.—The term ‘‘Chief 

18 Investigator’’ means the Chief Investigator of the 

19 Office. 

20 (3) CRIMINAL CIVIL RIGHTS STATUTES.—The 

21 term ‘‘criminal civil rights statutes’’ means— 

22 (A) section 241 of title 18, United States 

23 Code (relating to conspiracy against rights); 

24 (B) section 242 of title 18, United States 

25 Code (relating to deprivation of rights under 

26 color of law); 


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1 (C) section 245 of title 18, United States 

2 Code (relating to federally protected activities); 

3 (D) sections 1581 and 1584 of title 18, 

4 United States Code (relating to involuntary ser5 vitude and peonage); 

6 (E) section 901 of the Fair Housing Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 3631); and 

8 (F) any other Federal law that— 

9 (i) was in effect on or before Decem10 ber 31, 1969; and 

11 (ii) the Criminal Section of the Civil 

12 Rights Division of the Department of Jus13 tice enforced, prior to the date of enact14 ment of this Act. 

15 (4) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 

16 Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Investigative Office es17 tablished under section 5. 

18 (5) SECTION.—The term ‘‘Section’’ (except 

19 when used as part of the term ‘‘Criminal Section’’) 

20 means the Unsolved Crimes Section established 

21 under section 4. 

22 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF SECTION IN CIVIL RIGHTS DI23 VISION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Civil 

25 Rights Division of the Department of Justice an Unsolved 


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1 Crimes Section. The Section shall be headed by a Chief 

2 of the Section. 

3 (b) RESPONSIBILITY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of Federal law, and except as provided in 

6 section 5, the Chief shall be responsible for inves7 tigating and prosecuting violations of criminal civil 

8 rights statutes, in cases in which a complaint alleges 

9 that such a violation— 

10 (A) occurred not later than December 31, 

11 1969; and 

12 (B) resulted in a death. 

13 (2) COORDINATION.— 

14 (A) INVESTIGATIVE ACTIVITIES.—In inves15 tigating a complaint under paragraph (1), the 

16 Chief shall coordinate investigative activities 

17 with State and local law enforcement officials. 

18 (B) VENUE.—After investigating a com19 plaint under paragraph (1), or receiving a re20 port of an investigation conducted under section 

21 5, if the Chief determines that an alleged prac22 tice that is a violation of a criminal civil rights 

23 statute occurred in a State, or political subdivi24 sion of a State, that has a State or local law 

25 prohibiting the practice alleged and establishing 


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1 or authorizing a State or local law enforcement 

2 official to grant or seek relief from such prac3 tice or to institute criminal proceedings with re4 spect to the practice on receiving notice of the 

5 practice, the Chief shall consult with the official 

6 regarding the appropriate venue for the case in7 volved. 

8 (3) REFERRAL.—After investigating a com9 plaint under paragraph (1), or receiving a report of 

10 an investigation conducted under section 5, the 

11 Chief shall refer the complaint to the Criminal Sec12 tion of the Civil Rights Division, if the Chief deter13 mines that the subject of the complaint has violated 

14 a criminal civil rights statute in the case involved 

15 but the violation does not meet the requirements of 

16 subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1). 

17 (c) STUDY AND REPORT.— 

18 (1) STUDY.—The Chief shall annually conduct 

19 a study of the cases under the jurisdiction of the 

20 Chief or under the jurisdiction of the Chief Investi21 gator and, in conducting the study, shall determine 

22 the cases— 

23 (A) for which the Chief has sufficient evi24 dence to prosecute violations of criminal civil 

25 rights statutes; and 


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1 (B) for which the Chief has insufficient 

2 evidence to prosecute those violations. 

3 (2) REPORT.—Not later than September 30 of 

4 2006 and of each subsequent year, the Chief shall 

5 prepare and submit to Congress a report containing 

6 the results of the study conducted under paragraph 

7 (1), including a description of the cases described in 

8 paragraph (1)(B). 

9 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to 

11 be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 

12 for fiscal year 2007 and each subsequent fiscal year. 

13 (2) ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS.—Any funds 

14 appropriated under this subsection shall consist of 

15 additional appropriations for the activities described 

16 in this section, rather than funds made available 

17 through reductions in the appropriations authorized 

18 for other enforcement activities of the Department 

19 of Justice. 

20 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE IN FEDERAL BUREAU 

21 OF INVESTIGATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Civil 

23 Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the 

24 Department of Justice an Unsolved Civil Rights Crime InVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:08 Apr 30, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5236.IH H5236

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1 vestigative Office. The Office shall be headed by a Chief 

2 Investigator. 

3 (b) RESPONSIBILITY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with an 

5 agreement established between the Chief Investi6 gator and the Chief, the Chief Investigator shall be 

7 responsible for investigating violations of criminal 

8 civil rights statutes, in cases described in section 

9 4(b). 

10 (2) COORDINATION.— 

11 (A) INVESTIGATIVE ACTIVITIES.—In inves12 tigating a complaint under paragraph (1), the 

13 Chief Investigator shall coordinate the inves14 tigative activities with State and local law en15 forcement officials. 

16 (B) REFERRAL.—After investigating a 

17 complaint under paragraph (1), the Chief Inves18 tigator shall— 

19 (i) determine whether the subject of 

20 the complaint has violated a criminal 

21 rights statute in the case involved; and 

22 (ii) refer the complaint to the Chief, 

23 together with a report containing the de24 termination and the results of the inves25 tigation. 


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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to 

3 be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 

4 for fiscal year 2007 and each subsequent fiscal year. 

5 (2) ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS.—Any funds 

6 appropriated under this subsection shall consist of 

7 additional appropriations for the activities described 

8 in this section, rather than funds made available 

9 through reductions in the appropriations authorized 

10 for other enforcement activities of the Department 

11 of Justice. 

12 SEC. 6. COMMUNITY RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE DEPART13 MENT OF JUSTICE. 

14 In addition to any amounts authorized to be appro15 priated under title XI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

16 U.S.C. 2000h et seq.), there are authorized to be appro17 priated to the Community Relations Service of the Depart18 ment of Justice $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2007 and each 

19 subsequent fiscal year, to enable the Service (in carrying 

20 out the functions described in title X of such Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 2000g et seq.)) to provide technical assistance by 

22 bringing together law enforcement agencies and commu23 nities in the investigation of violations of criminal civil 

24 rights statutes, in cases described in section 4(b). 

Æ 


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