I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3989 

To establish a Science Advisory Board at the Department of Justice, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Ms. DEAN (for herself, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. SCANLON, and Mr. EVANS) 

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

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a Science Advisory Board at the Department 

of Justice, 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 ‘‘Improving Justice Pro5 grams through Science Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD. 

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Part A of title I of the Omnibus 

8 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

9 10101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 110. SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

3 the Office a Science Advisory Board (in this section re4 ferred to as the ‘Board’)— 

5 ‘‘(1) which shall be composed of 26 senior rep6 resentatives of academic institutions, including pri7 mary and secondary educational institutions, institu8 tions of higher education, advanced technology edu9 cation, and other related entities, and criminal jus10 tice and juvenile justice professionals, appointed in 

11 accordance with subsection (c); and 

12 ‘‘(2) the purpose of which shall be to— 

13 ‘‘(A) foster sustained dialogue between the 

14 academic and criminal and juvenile justice com15 munities on research-based policies; and 

16 ‘‘(B) advise the Attorney General with re17 spect to— 

18 ‘‘(i) relevant developments in criminal 

19 and juvenile justice research; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the implications of developments 

21 described in clause (i) for Federal, State, 

22 and local criminal and juvenile justice 

23 agencies; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) any other matters as requested 

25 by the Attorney General. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CHARTER.—There shall be a charter to govern 

2 the structure and mission of the Board, which shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) direct the Board to focus on the depart4 mental application of science and evidence under the 

5 guidance of the Attorney General; and 

6 ‘‘(2) be reviewed and updated every 4 years, as 

7 appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(c) MEMBERS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The 26 members of the 

10 Board shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the Attorney Gen12 eral, in consultation with the Assistant Attorney 

13 General of the Office and considering rec14 ommendations from— 

15 ‘‘(i) the Director of the National In16 stitute of Justice; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the Director of the Bureau of 

18 Justice Statistics; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the Director of the Office for 

20 Victims of Crime; 

21 ‘‘(iv) the Director of the Office of Sex 

22 Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, and 

23 Tracking; and 

24 ‘‘(v) the Director of the Office of Ju25 venile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; 


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1 ‘‘(B) include senior representatives with a 

2 balance of backgrounds, experiences, and view3 points that will include the expertise of sci4 entific, criminal justice, and juvenile justice 

5 professionals; 

6 ‘‘(C) include not fewer than 8 researchers 

7 in the field of statistics, evaluation, social 

8 sciences, or physical and biological sciences, 

9 which may include those researchers rec10 ommended by the National Academy of 

11 Sciences; 

12 ‘‘(D) be selected to achieve a balance of 

13 backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints that 

14 will include the expertise of scientific, criminal 

15 justice, and juvenile justice practitioners; and 

16 ‘‘(E) include not less than three-fifths of 

17 the members who hold terminal degrees in their 

18 field, have published research, and are leading 

19 research in areas, including— 

20 ‘‘(i) criminology; 

21 ‘‘(ii) criminal justice; 

22 ‘‘(iii) juvenile justice; 

23 ‘‘(iv) tribal justice; 

24 ‘‘(v) statistics; 

25 ‘‘(vi) economics; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) sociology; 

2 ‘‘(viii) psychology; 

3 ‘‘(ix) political science; and 

4 ‘‘(x) other relevant sciences. 

5 ‘‘(2) TERMS.—The term of each member ap6 pointed under paragraph (1) shall be 4 years. 

7 ‘‘(3) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the member8 ship of the Board shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) not affect the powers of the board; 

10 ‘‘(B) be filled in the same manner as the 

11 original appointment; and 

12 ‘‘(C) be only for the remainder of the term 

13 of the original appointment. 

14 ‘‘(4) CHAIRPERSON.—The Attorney General, 

15 with the advice and recommendation of the Assistant 

16 Attorney General, shall appoint 1 member of the 

17 Science Advisory Board to serve as the Chairperson 

18 of the Board. 

19 ‘‘(d) MEETINGS.—The Board shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) meet on a regular basis to discuss science, 

21 research, and ongoing criminal and juvenile justice 

22 departmental activities, including coordination with 

23 other Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, and 

24 private sector partners; 


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1 ‘‘(2) make recommendations to the Assistant 

2 Attorney General; 

3 ‘‘(3) provide advice and recommendations con4 cerning support for research, statistics, and grant 

5 programs of the Office; 

6 ‘‘(4) serve as a point of contact with the aca7 demic and practitioner communities to inform the 

8 Office of the impact of the research, statistics, and 

9 grant programs of the Office on both the academic 

10 community and the criminal and juvenile justice 

11 fields; 

12 ‘‘(5) offer broad input into long-range plans 

13 and partnership opportunities; 

14 ‘‘(6) serve as a forum for consideration of pro15 posed interdisciplinary projects across the sciences; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(7) advise on policy development, program im18 plementation and evaluation, and identify research 

19 needs and opportunities. 

20 ‘‘(e) SUPPORT.—The Attorney General shall ensure 

21 that the Board complies with the requirements under— 

22 ‘‘(1) the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

23 U.S.C. App.); 

24 ‘‘(2) section 552b of title 5 (commonly known 

25 as the ‘Government in the Sunshine Act’); and 


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1 ‘‘(3) any— 

2 ‘‘(A) governing Federal statute or regula3 tion; or 

4 ‘‘(B) relevant policy or procedure of the 

5 Department of Justice.’’. 

6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the At8 torney General shall submit to the Committee on the Judi9 ciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary 

10 of the House of Representatives a report on the status 

11 and activities of the Science Advisory Board established 

12 under section 110 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

13 and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by subsection (a) 

14 of this Act. 

Æ 


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