I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1951 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to authorize a court to reduce 

the term of imprisonment imposed on certain defendants convicted as 

an adult for an offense committed and completed before the defendant 

attained 18 years of age, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Mr. WESTERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to authorize a court 

to reduce the term of imprisonment imposed on certain 

defendants convicted as an adult for an offense committed and completed before the defendant attained 18 

years of age, 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. PAROLE FOR JUVENILES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 403 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5032 

6 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 5032A. Modification of an imposed term of impris2 onment for violations of law committed 

3 prior to age 18 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro5 vision of law, a court may reduce a term of imprisonment 

6 imposed upon a defendant convicted as an adult for an 

7 offense committed and completed before the defendant at8 tained 18 years of age if— 

9 ‘‘(1) the defendant has served not less than 20 

10 years in custody for the offense; and 

11 ‘‘(2) the court finds, after considering the fac12 tors set forth in subsection (c), that the defendant 

13 is not a danger to the safety of any person or the 

14 community and that the interests of justice warrant 

15 a sentence modification. 

16 ‘‘(b) SUPERVISED RELEASE.—Any defendant whose 

17 sentence is reduced pursuant to subsection (a) shall be or18 dered to serve a period of supervised release of not less 

19 than 5 years following release from imprisonment. The 

20 conditions of supervised release and any modification or 

21 revocation of the term of supervised release shall be in 

22 accordance with section 3583. 

23 ‘‘(c) FACTORS AND INFORMATION TO BE CONSID24 ERED IN DETERMINING WHETHER TO MODIFY A TERM

25 OF IMPRISONMENT.—The court, in determining whether 


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1 to reduce a term of imprisonment pursuant to subsection 

2 (a), shall consider— 

3 ‘‘(1) the factors described in section 3553(a), 

4 including the nature of the offense and the history 

5 and characteristics of the defendant; 

6 ‘‘(2) the age of the defendant at the time of the 

7 offense; 

8 ‘‘(3) a report and recommendation of the Bu9 reau of Prisons, including information on whether 

10 the defendant has substantially complied with the 

11 rules of each institution in which the defendant has 

12 been confined and whether the defendant has com13 pleted any educational, vocational, or other prison 

14 program, where available; 

15 ‘‘(4) a report and recommendation of the 

16 United States attorney for any district in which an 

17 offense for which the defendant is imprisoned was 

18 prosecuted; 

19 ‘‘(5) whether the defendant has demonstrated 

20 maturity, rehabilitation, and a fitness to reenter so21 ciety sufficient to justify a sentence reduction; 

22 ‘‘(6) any statement, which may be presented 

23 orally or otherwise, by any victim of an offense for 

24 which the defendant is imprisoned or by a family 

25 member of the victim if the victim is deceased; 


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1 ‘‘(7) any report from a physical, mental, or psy2 chiatric examination of the defendant conducted by 

3 a licensed health care professional; 

4 ‘‘(8) the family and community circumstances 

5 of the defendant at the time of the offense, including 

6 any history of abuse, trauma, or involvement in the 

7 child welfare system; 

8 ‘‘(9) the extent of the role of the defendant in 

9 the offense and whether, and to what extent, an 

10 adult was involved in the offense; 

11 ‘‘(10) the diminished culpability of juveniles as 

12 compared to that of adults, and the hallmark fea13 tures of youth, including immaturity, impetuosity, 

14 and failure to appreciate risks and consequences, 

15 which counsel against sentencing juveniles to the 

16 otherwise applicable term of imprisonment; and 

17 ‘‘(11) any other information the court deter18 mines relevant to the decision of the court. 

19 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON APPLICATIONS PURSUANT TO

20 THIS SECTION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) SECOND APPLICATION.—Not earlier than 

22 5 years after the date on which an order entered by 

23 a court on an initial application under this section 

24 becomes final, a court shall entertain a second appli25 cation by the same defendant under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FINAL APPLICATION.—Not earlier than 5 

2 years after the date on which an order entered by 

3 a court on a second application under paragraph (1) 

4 becomes final, a court shall entertain a final applica5 tion by the same defendant under this section. 

6 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION.—A court may not entertain 

7 an application filed after an application filed under 

8 paragraph (2) by the same defendant. 

9 ‘‘(e) PROCEDURES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—The Bureau of Prisons shall 

11 provide written notice of this section to— 

12 ‘‘(A) any defendant who has served not 

13 less than 19 years in prison for an offense com14 mitted and completed before the defendant at15 tained 18 years of age for which the defendant 

16 was convicted as an adult; and 

17 ‘‘(B) the sentencing court, the United 

18 States attorney, and the Federal Public De19 fender or Executive Director of the Community 

20 Defender Organization for the judicial district 

21 in which the sentence described in subpara22 graph (A) was imposed. 

23 ‘‘(2) CRIME VICTIMS RIGHTS.—Upon receiving 

24 notice under paragraph (1), the United States attorVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1951.IH H1951

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1 ney shall provide any notifications required under 

2 section 3771. 

3 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An application for a 

5 sentence reduction under this section shall be 

6 filed as a motion to reduce the sentence of the 

7 defendant and may include affidavits or other 

8 written material. 

9 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A motion to reduce 

10 a sentence under this section shall be filed with 

11 the sentencing court and a copy shall be served 

12 on the United States attorney for the judicial 

13 district in which the sentence was imposed. 

14 ‘‘(4) EXPANDING THE RECORD; HEARING.— 

15 ‘‘(A) EXPANDING THE RECORD.—After the 

16 filing of a motion to reduce a sentence under 

17 this section, the court may direct the parties to 

18 expand the record by submitting additional 

19 written materials relating to the motion. 

20 ‘‘(B) HEARING.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The court shall 

22 conduct a hearing on the motion, at which 

23 the defendant and counsel for the defend24 ant shall be given the opportunity to be 

25 heard. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EVIDENCE.—In a hearing under 

2 this section, the court may allow parties to 

3 present evidence. 

4 ‘‘(iii) DEFENDANT’S PRESENCE.—At 

5 a hearing under this section, the defendant 

6 shall be present unless the defendant 

7 waives the right to be present. The re8 quirement under this clause may be satis9 fied by the defendant appearing by video 

10 teleconference. 

11 ‘‘(iv) COUNSEL.—A defendant who is 

12 unable to obtain counsel is entitled to have 

13 counsel appointed to represent the defend14 ant for proceedings under this section, in15 cluding any appeal, unless the defendant 

16 waives the right to counsel. 

17 ‘‘(v) FINDINGS.—The court shall state 

18 in open court, and file in writing, the rea19 sons for granting or denying a motion 

20 under this section. 

21 ‘‘(C) APPEAL.—The Government or the 

22 defendant may file a notice of appeal in the dis23 trict court for review of a final order under this 

24 section. The time limit for filing such appeal 


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1 shall be governed by rule 4(a) of the Federal 

2 Rules of Appellate Procedure. 

3 ‘‘(f) EDUCATIONAL AND REHABILITATIVE PRO4 GRAMS.—A defendant who is convicted and sentenced as 

5 an adult for an offense committed and completed before 

6 the defendant attained 18 years of age may not be de7 prived of any educational, training, or rehabilitative pro8 gram that is otherwise available to the general prison pop9 ulation.’’. 

10 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

11 chapter 403 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

12 by inserting after the item relating to section 5032 the 

13 following: 

‘‘5032A. Modification of an imposed term of imprisonment for violations of law 

committed prior to age 18.’’. 

14 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

15 section shall apply to any conviction entered before, on, 

16 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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