105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1357

To require States to bear the responsibility for the consequences of releasing

violent criminals from custody before the expiration of the full term

of imprisonment to which they are sentenced.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 31, 1997

Mr. DORGAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To require States to bear the responsibility for the consequences of releasing violent criminals from custody before the expiration of the full term of imprisonment

to which they are sentenced.

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 ‘‘Fairness and Incarcer5 ation Responsibility (FAIR) Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
2

•S 1357 IS

1 (1) violent criminals often serve only a portion

2 of the terms of imprisonment to which they are sen3 tenced;

4 (2) a significant proportion of the most serious

5 crimes of violence committed in the United States

6 are committed by criminals who have been released

7 early from a term of imprisonment to which they

8 were sentenced for a prior conviction for a crime of

9 violence;

10 (3) violent criminals who are released before the

11 expiration of the term of imprisonment to which

12 they were sentenced often travel to other States to

13 commit subsequent crimes of violence;

14 (4) crimes of violence and the threat of crimes

15 of violence committed by violent criminals who are

16 released from prison before the expiration of the

17 term of imprisonment to which they were sentenced

18 affect tourism, economic development, use of the

19 interstate highway system, federally owned or sup20 ported facilities, and other commercial activities of

21 individuals; and

22 (5) the policies of one State regarding the early

23 release of criminals sentenced in that State for a

24 crime of violence often affect the citizens of other
3

•S 1357 IS

1 States, who can influence those policies only through

2 Federal law.

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to require

4 States to bear the responsibility for the consequences of

5 releasing violent criminals from custody before the expira6 tion of the full term of imprisonment to which they are

7 sentenced.

8 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR VIOLENT OFFENDER INCARCER9 ATION GRANTS.

10 Section 20103(a) of the Violent Crime Control and

11 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13703(a)) is

12 amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘the State has implemented’’

14 and inserting the following: ‘‘the State—

15 ‘‘(1) has implemented’’;

16 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert17 ing ‘‘; and’’; and

18 (3) by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(2) has enacted and implemented a State law

20 providing that a victim (or in the case of a homicide,

21 the family of the victim) of a crime of violence (as

22 defined in section 16 of title 18, United States

23 Code) shall have a Federal cause of action in any

24 district court of the United States against the State

25 for the recovery of actual (not punitive) damages
4

•S 1357 IS

1 (direct and indirect) resulting from the crime of vio2 lence, if the individual convicted of committing the

3 crime of violence—

4 ‘‘(A) had previously been convicted by the

5 State of a crime of violence committed on a dif6 ferent occasion than the crime of violence at

7 issue;

8 ‘‘(B) was released before serving the full

9 term of imprisonment to which the individual

10 was sentenced for that offense; and

11 ‘‘(C) committed the subsequent crime of vi12 olence at issue before the original term of im13 prisonment described in subparagraph (B)

14 would have expired.’’.

15 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR TRUTH-IN-SENTENCING INCEN16 TIVE GRANTS.

17 Section 20104 of the Violent Crime Control and Law

18 Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13704) is amend19 ed—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘85 percent’’ each place that

21 term appears and inserting ‘‘100 percent’’; and

22 (2) by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(c) WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—Notwith24 standing subsection (a), in addition to the requirements

25 of that subsection, to be eligible to receive a grant award
5

•S 1357 IS

1 under this section, each application submitted under sub2 section (a) shall demonstrate that the State has enacted

3 and implemented, a State law providing that a victim (or

4 in the case of a homicide, the family of the victim) of a

5 crime of violence (as defined in section 16 of title 18, Unit6 ed States Code) shall have a Federal cause of action in

7 any district court of the United States against the State

8 for the recovery of actual (not punitive) damages (direct

9 and indirect) resulting from the crime of violence, if the

10 individual convicted of committing the crime of violence—

11 ‘‘(1) had previously been convicted by the State

12 of a crime of violence committed on a different occa13 sion than the crime of violence at issue;

14 ‘‘(2) was released before serving the full term

15 of imprisonment to which the individual was sen16 tenced for that offense; and

17 ‘‘(3) committed the subsequent crime of vio18 lence at issue before the original term of imprison19 ment described in paragraph (2) would have ex20 pired.’’.

21 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

22 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

23 take effect 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

Æ