I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3847 

To prohibit racial profiling. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2004 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. WATT, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. WATERS, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. WEINER, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of 

California, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA ́, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. 

BALLANCE, Mr. BELL, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BISHOP of New 

York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, 

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. 

CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DAVIS of 

Florida, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FARR, Mr. 

FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORD, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. 

FROST, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 

GONZALEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. 

LANTOS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, 

Ms. MAJETTE, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. 

MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 

Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MEEKS of New 

York, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PASTOR, 

Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

RODRIGUEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SANDLIN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHAYS, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. 

SOLIS, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. STARK, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Mississippi, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. WALSH, 

Ms. WATSON, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WU, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
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A BILL 

To prohibit racial profiling. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘End Racial Profiling Act of 2004’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec.1.Short title; table of contents. 

Sec.2.Findings and purposes. 

TITLE I—PROHIBITION OF RACIAL PROFILING 

Sec.101.Prohibition. 

Sec.102.Enforcement. 

TITLE II—PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING BY 

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES 

Sec.201.Policies to eliminate racial profiling. 

TITLE III—PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING BY 

STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES 

Sec.301.Policies required for grants. 

Sec.302.Best practices development grants. 

TITLE IV—DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORTS ON RACIAL 

PROFILING IN THE UNITED STATES 

Sec.401.Attorney General to issue reports on racial profiling in the United 

States. 

Sec.402.Limitation on use of data. 

TITLE V—DEFINITIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec.501.Definitions. 

Sec.502.Severability. 

Sec.503.Savings clause. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) Federal, State, and local law enforcement 

2 agents play a vital role in protecting the public from 

3 crime and protecting the Nation from terrorism. The 

4 vast majority of law enforcement agents nationwide 

5 discharge their duties professionally and without 

6 bias. 

7 (2) The use by police officers of race, ethnicity, 

8 religion, or national origin in deciding which persons 

9 should be subject to traffic stops, stops and frisks, 

10 questioning, searches, and seizures is improper. 

11 (3) In his address to a Joint Session of Con12 gress on February 27, 2001, President George W. 

13 Bush declared that ‘‘racial profiling is wrong and we 

14 will end it in America.’’ He directed the Attorney 

15 General to implement this policy. 

16 (4) In June 2003, the Department of Justice 

17 issued a Policy Guidance regarding racial profiling 

18 by Federal law enforcement agencies which stated: 

19 ‘‘Racial profiling in law enforcement is not merely 

20 wrong, but also ineffective. Race-based assumptions 

21 in law enforcement perpetuate negative racial stereo22 types that are harmful to our rich and diverse de23 mocracy, and materially impair our efforts to main24 tain a fair and just society.’’ 
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1 (5) The Department of Justice Guidance is a 

2 useful first step, but does not achieve the President’s 

3 stated goal of ending racial profiling in America: it 

4 does not apply to State and local law enforcement 

5 agencies, does not contain a meaningful enforcement 

6 mechanism, does not require data collection, and 

7 contains an overbroad exception for immigration and 

8 national security matters. 

9 (6) Current efforts by State and local govern10 ments to eradicate racial profiling and redress the 

11 harms it causes, while also laudable, have been lim12 ited in scope and insufficient to address this national 

13 problem. Therefore, Federal legislation is needed. 

14 (7) Statistical evidence from across the country 

15 demonstrates that racial profiling is a real and 

16 measurable phenomenon. 

17 (8) As of November 15, 2000, the Department 

18 of Justice had 14 publicly noticed, ongoing, pattern 

19 or practice investigations involving allegations of ra20 cial profiling, and had filed 5 pattern and practice 

21 lawsuits involving allegations of racial profiling, with 

22 4 of those cases resolved through consent decrees. 

23 (9) A large majority of individuals subjected to 

24 stops and other enforcement activities based on race, 

25 ethnicity, religion, or national origin are found to be 
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1 law abiding and therefore racial profiling is not an 

2 effective means to uncover criminal activity. 

3 (10) A 2001 Department of Justice report on 

4 citizen-police contacts in 1999 found that, although 

5 African-Americans and Hispanics were more likely 

6 to be stopped and searched, they were less likely to 

7 be in possession of contraband. On average, searches 

8 and seizures of African-American drivers yielded evi9 dence only 8 percent of the time, searches and sei10 zures of Hispanic drivers yielded evidence only 10 

11 percent of the time, and searches and seizures of 

12 white drivers yielded evidence 17 percent of the 

13 time. 

14 (11) A 2000 General Accounting Office report 

15 on the activities of the United States Customs Serv16 ice during fiscal year 1998 found that— 

17 (A) black women who were United States 

18 citizens were 9 times more likely than white 

19 women who were United States citizens to be x20 rayed after being frisked or patted down; 

21 (B) black women who were United States 

22 citizens were less than half as likely as white 

23 women who were United States citizens to be 

24 found carrying contraband; and 
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1 (C) in general, the patterns used to select 

2 passengers for more intrusive searches resulted 

3 in women and minorities being selected at rates 

4 that were not consistent with the rates of find5 ing contraband. 

6 (12) In some jurisdictions, local law enforce7 ment practices such as ticket and arrest quotas, and 

8 similar management practices, may have the unin9 tended effect of encouraging law enforcement agents 

10 to engage in racial profiling. 

11 (13) Racial profiling harms individuals sub12 jected to it because they experience fear, anxiety, hu13 miliation, anger, resentment, and cynicism when 

14 they are unjustifiably treated as criminal suspects. 

15 By discouraging individuals from traveling freely, ra16 cial profiling impairs both interstate and intrastate 

17 commerce. 

18 (14) Racial profiling damages law enforcement 

19 and the criminal justice system as a whole by under20 mining public confidence and trust in the police, the 

21 courts, and the criminal law. 

22 (15) In the wake of the September 11, 2001, 

23 terrorist attacks, many Arabs, Muslims, Central and 

24 South Asians, and Sikhs, as well as other immi25 grants and Americans of foreign descent, were treat-
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1 ed with generalized suspicion and subjected to 

2 searches and seizures based upon religion and na3 tional origin, without trustworthy information link4 ing specific individuals to criminal conduct. Such 

5 profiling has failed to produce tangible benefits, yet 

6 has created a fear and mistrust of law enforcement 

7 agencies in these communities. 

8 (16) Racial profiling violates the equal protec9 tion clause of the Constitution. Using race, ethnicity, 

10 religion, or national origin as a proxy for criminal 

11 suspicion violates the constitutional requirement that 

12 police and other government officials accord to all 

13 citizens the equal protection of the law. Arlington 

14 Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Cor15 poration, 429 U.S. 252 (1977). 

16 (17) Racial profiling is not adequately ad17 dressed through suppression motions in criminal 

18 cases for two reasons. First, the Supreme Court 

19 held, in Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 

20 (1996), that the racially discriminatory motive of a 

21 police officer in making an otherwise valid traffic 

22 stop does not warrant the suppression of evidence. 

23 Second, since most stops do not result in the dis24 covery of contraband, there is no criminal prosecu25 tion and no evidence to suppress. 
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1 (18) A comprehensive national solution is need2 ed to address racial profiling at the Federal, State, 

3 and local levels. Federal support is needed to combat 

4 racial profiling through specialized training of law 

5 enforcement agents, improved management systems, 

6 and the acquisition of technology such as in-car 

7 video cameras. 

8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

9 (1) to enforce the constitutional right to equal 

10 protection of the laws, pursuant to the Fifth Amend11 ment and section 5 of the 14th Amendment to the 

12 Constitution of the United States; 

13 (2) to enforce the constitutional right to protec14 tion against unreasonable searches and seizures, 

15 pursuant to the Fourth Amendment to the Constitu16 tion of the United States; 

17 (3) to enforce the constitutional right to inter18 state travel, pursuant to section 2 of article IV of 

19 the Constitution of the United States; and 

20 (4) to regulate interstate commerce, pursuant 

21 to clause 3 of section 8 of article I of the Constitu22 tion of the United States. 
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1 TITLE I—PROHIBITION OF 

2 RACIAL PROFILING 

3 SEC. 101. PROHIBITION. 

4 No law enforcement agent or law enforcement agency 

5 shall engage in racial profiling. 

6 SEC. 102. ENFORCEMENT. 

7 (a) REMEDY.—The United States, or an individual 

8 injured by racial profiling, may enforce this title in a civil 

9 action for declaratory or injunctive relief, filed either in 

10 a State court of general jurisdiction or in a district court 

11 of the United States. 

12 (b) PARTIES.—In any action brought pursuant to 

13 this title, relief may be obtained against— 

14 (1) any governmental unit that employed any 

15 law enforcement agent who engaged in racial 

16 profiling; 

17 (2) any agent of such unit who engaged in ra18 cial profiling; and 

19 (3) any person with supervisory authority over 

20 such agent. 

21 (c) NATURE OF PROOF.—Proof that the routine or 

22 spontaneous investigatory activities of law enforcement 

23 agents in a jurisdiction have had a disparate impact on 

24 racial, ethnic, or religious minorities shall constitute prima 

25 facie evidence of a violation of this title. 
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1 (d) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In any action or proceeding 

2 to enforce this title against any governmental unit, the 

3 court may allow a prevailing plaintiff, other than the 

4 United States, reasonable attorney’s fees as part of the 

5 costs, and may include expert fees as part of the attorney’s 

6 fee. 

7 TITLE II—PROGRAMS TO ELIMI8 NATE RACIAL PROFILING BY 

9 FEDERAL LAW ENFORCE10 MENT AGENCIES 

11 SEC. 201. POLICIES TO ELIMINATE RACIAL PROFILING. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Federal law enforcement agencies 

13 shall— 

14 (1) maintain adequate policies and procedures 

15 designed to eliminate racial profiling; and 

16 (2) cease existing practices that encourage ra17 cial profiling. 

18 (b) POLICIES.—The policies and procedures de19 scribed in subsection (a)(1) shall include— 

20 (1) a prohibition on racial profiling; 

21 (2) the collection of data on routine investiga22 tory activities sufficient to determine if law enforce23 ment agents are engaged in racial profiling and sub24 mission of that data to the Attorney General; 
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1 (3) independent procedures for receiving, inves2 tigating, and responding meaningfully to complaints 

3 alleging racial profiling by law enforcement agents of 

4 the agency; 

5 (4) procedures to discipline law enforcement 

6 agents who engage in racial profiling; and 

7 (5) such other policies or procedures that the 

8 Attorney General deems necessary to eliminate racial 

9 profiling. 

10 TITLE III—PROGRAMS TO ELIMI11 NATE RACIAL PROFILING BY 

12 STATE AND LOCAL LAW EN13 FORCEMENT AGENCIES 

14 SEC. 301. POLICIES REQUIRED FOR GRANTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—An application by a State or gov16 ernmental unit for funding under a covered program shall 

17 include a certification that such unit and any agency to 

18 which it is redistributing program funds— 

19 (1) maintains adequate policies and procedures 

20 designed to eliminate racial profiling; and 

21 (2) has ceased any existing practices that en22 courage racial profiling. 

23 (b) POLICIES.—The policies and procedures de24 scribed in subsection (a) shall include— 

25 (1) a prohibition on racial profiling; 
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1 (2) the collection of data on routine investiga2 tory activities sufficient to determine if law enforce3 ment agents are engaged in racial profiling, and sub4 mission of that data to the Attorney General; 

5 (3) independent procedures for receiving, inves6 tigating, and responding meaningfully to complaints 

7 alleging racial profiling by law enforcement agents; 

8 (4) procedures to discipline law enforcement 

9 agents who engage in racial profiling; and 

10 (5) such other policies or procedures that the 

11 Attorney General deems necessary to eliminate racial 

12 profiling. 

13 (c) NONCOMPLIANCE.—If the Attorney General de14 termines that a grantee is not in compliance with condi15 tions established under this title, the Attorney General 

16 shall withhold the grant, in whole or in part, until the 

17 grantee establishes compliance. The Attorney General 

18 shall provide notice regarding State grants and opportuni19 ties for private parties to present evidence to the Attorney 

20 General that a grantee is not in compliance with condi21 tions established under this title. 

22 SEC. 302. BEST PRACTICES DEVELOPMENT GRANTS. 

23 (a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General 

24 may make grants to States, law enforcement agencies and 

25 other governmental units, Indian tribal governments, or 
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1 other public and private entities, to develop and implement 

2 best practice devices and systems to ensure the racially 

3 neutral administration of justice. 

4 (b) USES.—The funds provided pursuant to sub5 section (a) may be used to support— 

6 (1) development and implementation of training 

7 to prevent racial profiling and to encourage more re8 spectful interaction with the public; 

9 (2) acquisition and use of technology to facili10 tate the collection of data regarding routine inves11 tigatory activities in order to determine if law en12 forcement agents are engaged in racial profiling; 

13 (3) acquisition and use of technology to verify 

14 the accuracy of data collection, including in-car video 

15 cameras and portable computer systems; 

16 (4) development and acquisition of early warn17 ing systems and other feedback systems that help 

18 identify officers or units of officers engaged in or at 

19 risk of racial profiling or other misconduct, including 

20 the technology to support such systems; 

21 (5) establishment or improvement of systems 

22 and procedures for receiving, investigating, and re23 sponding meaningfully to complaints alleging racial, 

24 ethnic, or religious bias by law enforcement agents; 

25 and 
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1 (6) establishment or improvement of manage2 ment systems to ensure that supervisors are held ac3 countable for the conduct of their subordinates. 

4 (c) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—The Attorney Gen5 eral shall ensure that grants under this section are award6 ed in a manner that reserves an equitable share of funding 

7 for small and rural law enforcement agencies. 

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—The At9 torney General shall make available such sums as are nec10 essary to carry out this section from amounts appro11 priated for programs administered by the Attorney Gen12 eral. 

13 TITLE IV—DEPARTMENT OF JUS14 TICE REPORTS ON RACIAL 

15 PROFILING IN THE UNITED 

16 STATES 

17 SEC. 401. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ISSUE REPORTS ON RA18 CIAL PROFILING IN THE UNITED STATES. 

19 (a) REPORTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

21 the enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, 

22 the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a re23 port on racial profiling by Federal, State, and local 

24 law enforcement agencies in the United States. 
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1 (2) SCOPE.—The reports issued pursuant to 

2 paragraph (1) shall include— 

3 (A) a summary of data collected pursuant 

4 to sections 201(b)(2) and 301(b)(2) and any 

5 other reliable source of information regarding 

6 racial profiling in the United States; 

7 (B) the status of the adoption and imple8 mentation of policies and procedures by Federal 

9 law enforcement agencies pursuant to section 

10 201; 

11 (C) the status of the adoption and imple12 mentation of policies and procedures by State 

13 and local law enforcement agencies pursuant to 

14 sections 301 and 302; and 

15 (D) a description of any other policies and 

16 procedures that the Attorney General believes 

17 would facilitate the elimination of racial 

18 profiling. 

19 (b) DATA COLLECTION.—Not later than 6 months 

20 after the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 

21 by regulation establish standards for the collection of data 

22 under sections 201(b)(2) and 301(b)(2), including stand23 ards for setting benchmarks against which collected data 

24 shall be measured. Such standards shall result in the col25 lection of data, including data with respect to stops, 
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1 searches, seizures, and arrests, that is sufficiently detailed 

2 to determine whether law enforcement agencies are en3 gaged in racial profiling and to monitor the effectiveness 

4 of policies and procedures designed to eliminate racial 

5 profiling. 

6 (c) PUBLIC ACCESS.—Data collected under sections 

7 201(b)(2) and 301(b)(2) shall be available to the public. 

8 SEC. 402. LIMITATION ON USE OF DATA. 

9 Information released pursuant to section 401 shall 

10 not reveal the identity of any individual who is detained 

11 or any law enforcement officer involved in a detention. 

12 TITLE V—DEFINITIONS AND 

13 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

14 SEC. 501. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘covered 

17 program’’ means any program or activity funded in 

18 whole or in part with funds made available under— 

19 (A) the Edward Byrne Memorial State and 

20 Local Law Enforcement Assistance Programs 

21 (part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

22 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 

23 et seq.)); 

24 (B) the ‘‘Cops on the Beat’’ program 

25 under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
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1 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

2 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.), but not including any 

3 program, project, or other activity specified in 

4 section 1701(d)(8) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 3796dd(d)(8)); and 

6 (C) the Local Law Enforcement Block 

7 Grant program of the Department of Justice, 

8 as described in appropriations Acts. 

9 (2) GOVERNMENTAL UNIT.—The term ‘‘govern10 mental unit’’ means any department, agency, special 

11 purpose district, or other instrumentality of Federal, 

12 State, local, or Indian tribal government. 

13 (3) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 

14 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a Federal, State, 

15 local, or Indian tribal public agency engaged in the 

16 prevention, detection, or investigation of violations of 

17 criminal, immigration, or customs laws. 

18 (4) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT.—The term 

19 ‘‘law enforcement agent’’ means any Federal, State, 

20 local, or Indian tribal official responsible for enforc21 ing criminal, immigration, or customs laws, includ22 ing police officers and other agents of Federal, 

23 State, and local law enforcement agencies. 

24 (5) RACIAL PROFILING.—The term ‘‘racial 

25 profiling’’ means the practice of a law enforcement 
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1 agent relying, to any degree, on race, ethnicity, reli2 gion, or national origin in selecting which individuals 

3 to subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory 

4 activities, or in deciding upon the scope and sub5 stance of law enforcement activity following the ini6 tial investigatory procedure, except when there is 

7 trustworthy information, relevant to the locality and 

8 timeframe, that links persons of a particular race, 

9 ethnicity, religion, or national origin to an identified 

10 criminal incident or scheme. 

11 (6) ROUTINE OR SPONTANEOUS INVESTIGATORY

12 ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘routine or spontaneous in13 vestigatory activities’’ means the following activities 

14 by law enforcement agents: interviews; traffic stops; 

15 pedestrian stops; frisks and other types of body 

16 searches; consensual or nonconsensual searches of 

17 the persons or possessions (including vehicles) of 

18 motorists or pedestrians; inspections and interviews 

19 of entrants into the United States that are more ex20 tensive than those customarily carried out; immigra21 tion related workplace investigations; and such other 

22 types of law enforcement encounters compiled by the 

23 FBI and the Justice Department’s Bureau of Jus24 tice Statistics. 
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1 SEC. 502. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act or the application of such 

3 provision to any person or circumstance is held to be un4 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and the applica5 tion of the provisions of such to any person or cir6 cumstance shall not be affected thereby. 

7 SEC. 503. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

8 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit legal 

9 or administrative remedies under section 1979 of the Re10 vised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1983), sec11 tion 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law En12 forcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14141), the Omnibus 

13 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

14 3701 et seq.), and title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

15 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). 

Æ