IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 702 

Recognizing that the United States has a moral obligation to meet its 

foundational promise of guaranteed justice for all. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 14, 2019 

Ms. PRESSLEY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing that the United States has a moral obligation 

to meet its foundational promise of guaranteed justice 

for all. 

Whereas the United States has an incarceration crisis that 

has destabilized millions of Americans, caused intergenerational harm and trauma to families, decimated entire 

communities, and disproportionately impacted communities of color, particularly Black communities; 

Whereas the Federal Government has an obligation to rebuild 

the American legal system so that it is smaller, safer, less 

punitive, and more humane; 

Whereas mass decarceration is a moral and societal imperative that the United States must strategically and effectively pursue; 


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Whereas the Federal Government manages the largest immigration detention system in the world, spends more resources on immigration enforcement than on all other 

Federal enforcement agencies combined, and now makes 

up the fastest growing incarceration system in the country; 

Whereas it should be the responsibility of the Federal Government to make America more free by dramatically reducing jail, prison, and immigration detention populations; make America more equal by eliminating racial 

disparities, wealth-based discrimination and corporate 

profiteering; make America more secure by investing in 

the communities most destabilized by the failed policies 

of over-policing and mass incarceration; and make America more just and humane by ensuring basic resources 

needed to feel safe are equitably provided to all people; 

Whereas the American legal system duplicates and maintains 

systems of oppression that can be traced back to slavery, 

and as a result disproportionately harms Black communities throughout the United States; 

Whereas public safety is of paramount importance for every 

person, family, and community in this country; 

Whereas a humane and effective justice system is a necessary 

predicate for a functioning and healthy democracy; 

Whereas, as recently as the early 1970s, the United States 

had an incarceration rate on par with most other Western democracies, and while their crime rates today are at 

nearly identical levels, America’s incarceration rate is five 

times higher; 

Whereas the United States of America, a Nation purported 

to be founded on the principles of liberty and justice for 


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all, has become the most incarcerated country in the 

world; 

Whereas throughout the United States— 

(1) nearly 5 million people are arrested and jailed 

every year; 

(2) almost 2.2 million people are incarcerated, including 176,824 people in Federal jails and prisons; 

(3) collectively, 1,273,605 people are locked in State 

prisons and another 745,200 people are detained in a 

local jail on any given night; 

(4) 500,000 immigrants are incarcerated in immigrant jails and prisons annually, marking a 75 percent 

increase in immigration detention over the last decade; 

(5) 4.5 million people are under some form of community supervision, including probation and parole; 

(6) despite making up just 4 percent of the world’s 

population, the United States is home to 21 percent of 

the world’s prisoners; 

(7) incarcerated people remain incarcerated for 

longer periods of time and the number of people serving 

life sentences has quadrupled since 1984, even as crime 

has fallen, and— 

(A) one out of every seven people in prison is 

currently serving a life sentence, of which almost 

one-quarter are sentenced to life without parole; 

(B) the average sentence length for individuals 

convicted of a Federal offense carrying a mandatory 

minimum penalty is 110 months of imprisonment; 

(C) more than two-thirds of Federal prisoners 

serving life sentences have been convicted of nonviolent crimes, including 30 percent convicted for a 

drug crime; and 


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(D) there are tens of thousands of people over 

the age of 50 who remain locked up though they are 

elderly, sick, and pose little to no public safety risk; 

(8) tens of thousands of people are forcibly deported 

away from their families through an immigration enforcement system that replicates the harms of over-policing 

and racial profiling by local law enforcement agencies due 

to formal and informal cooperation agreements between 

such agencies and Federal immigration enforcement; 

(9) more than a quarter of a million young people 

are arrested or referred to law enforcement in their 

schools each year with increasing investments towards 

school policing, surveillance, suspensions and expulsions, 

harsh discipline, and arrests, in lieu of counseling, educational resources, and physical improvements to classrooms and school structures, leading to a ‘‘cradle-to-prison pipeline’’; 

Whereas while incarceration is the final and too frequently 

end result of the American legal system, the harm is collectively experienced by a far larger set of people, especially Black and Brown individuals, through overzealous 

policing practices and subsequent correctional surveillance and stigmatization; 

Whereas Black people are incarcerated at 5 times the rate of 

White people, making up just 13 percent of the population, but 33 percent of the country’s prisoners; 

Whereas Latinos represent 16 percent of the adult population, but account for 23 percent of the Nation’s prisoners; 

Whereas the imprisonment rate for Black women (92 per 

100,000) is twice the rate of White women (49 per 

100,000); 


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Whereas Black, Hispanics, and Indigenous communities are 

the most heavily impacted by the American legal system; 

Whereas expanded and militarized police forces, including in 

the form of proactive policing or so-called ‘‘broken windows’’ policing, has led to mass criminalization, worsening police-community relations, and unacceptable levels 

of State violence, specifically impacting Black people; 

Whereas women are the fastest growing population in the 

American legal system, outpacing men two to one and 

have grown nearly 800 percent from 1978 to 2017; 

Whereas one in two women in prison are incarcerated as a 

result of nonviolent offenses, and nearly two-thirds are 

confined in jails due to an inability to afford cash bail; 

Whereas a majority of incarcerated women report having experienced trauma due to sexual violence, intimate partner 

violence, and caregiver violence; 

Whereas 85 percent of currently incarcerated women report 

having been the primary caretaker of children prior to 

their incarceration; 

Whereas a large percentage of currently incarcerated women 

are either elderly, ill, survivors of domestic violence, or 

have served more than 10 years; 

Whereas incarcerated women are subject to permanent denial 

of parental rights, which have contributed significantly to 

the destruction of families; 

Whereas women and young people continue to be criminalized 

and fear arrest or jail for experiencing a pregnancy loss, 

ending a pregnancy, or supporting a loved one who has 

lost or ended a pregnancy; 


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Whereas the toll of incarceration and detention has had a severe impact on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, 

intersex, and asexual (‘‘LGBTQ+’’) individuals who are 

imprisoned at far higher rates than the overall population; 

Whereas eight percent of adults in prisons and jails, or approximately 162,000 adults, identify as lesbian, gay, or 

bisexual; 

Whereas an estimated 3,209 adults held in prisons or jails in 

the United States identify as transgender; 

Whereas LGBTQ+ people are more likely to experience sexual violence while incarcerated than non-LGBTQ+ people; 

Whereas LGBTQ+ immigrants are 97 times more likely to 

be sexually victimized in immigration detention than nonLGBTQ+ individuals; 

Whereas LGBTQ+ people in prison, jail, and detention facilities are disproportionately subjected to solitary confinement as a means of protection compared to nonLGBTQ+ people; 

Whereas incarceration can be traumatic, dehumanizing, and 

harmful for LGBTQ+ people affected by it, particularly 

those who are low-income and people of color; 

Whereas violence against transgender women of color has 

reached epidemic proportions in the United States, as 

evidenced by the murder of at least 26 transgender 

women in 2018; 

Whereas incarcerated individuals endure jails and prisons 

that are cruel, inhumane, and are subjected to practices 

that are not conducive to rehabilitation; 


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Whereas over 61,000 people across the United States are 

subjected to solitary confinement every day, isolated for 

22 to 24 hours a day with little to no human interaction; 

Whereas many incarcerated individuals suffering from chronic illnesses often receive little or no treatment, and individuals suffering from substance use disorders face higher rates of overdose in jails and prisons that prohibit 

treatment drugs such as methadone and buprenorphine; 

Whereas one in five people incarcerated are people with a 

cognitive disability, while another one in five inmates 

have a serious mental health diagnosis; 

Whereas incarcerated people are three or four times more 

likely to report having a disability than the rest of the 

United States population; 

Whereas incarcerated people with cognitive and physical disabilities are disproportionately subjected to solitary confinement; 

Whereas people with disabilities are subject to criminalization, violence, and death, including those with untreated 

mental health diagnosis who are 16 times more likely to 

be killed by law enforcement; 

Whereas the total cost of the mass incarceration crisis, including the costs to those incarcerated and their families, 

is nearly $182 billion per year; 

Whereas the burden to pay for the Nation’s mass incarceration crisis too often falls upon everyday people trapped 

in cycles of poverty and intergenerational trauma, and 

statistical mechanisms to comprehensively quantify the 

ongoing and generational effects of carceral trauma are 

limited and oftentimes unknown; 


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Whereas nearly a half a million people are in jails without 

having been convicted, often because of an inability to afford cash bail, which leads to an increased likelihood of 

conviction and lengthier sentences; 

Whereas in order to finance the mass incarceration system, 

many cities, States, courts, and prosecutors levy hefty 

fines at nearly every stage of the criminal justice process, 

including— 

(1) fines and fees for being arrested; 

(2) lawyer fees; 

(3) crime lab fees and victim assessments; 

(4) fees to enter a diversion or substance use disorder treatment program; or 

(5) fees to pay for public and private probation supervision; 

Whereas people leave jails and prison owing an average of 

$13,607 in fines and fees, and an inability to pay can 

lead to being denied the right to vote, license suspension, 

additional fines and fees, and even further incarceration; 

Whereas the policy decisions that led to the incarceration crisis, as well as the unjust economic burden to sustain the 

system, caused inestimable, intergenerational, and disproportionate harm to communities; 

Whereas one in two adults in America has had a family member in jail or prison, and one in five has had a parent 

incarcerated; 

Whereas nearly 65 percent of families with an incarcerated 

or detained family member are unable to meet basic 

needs, including housing, health, food, and employment; 

Whereas children with an incarcerated parent are nearly six 

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ingly less likely to graduate from college than children 

without incarcerated parents; 

Whereas zero-tolerance policies, including exclusionary disciplinary policies and school-based arrests, result in the 

growing cradle-to-prison pipeline; 

Whereas tens of thousands of United States citizen children 

have a parent who is detained or has been deported, with 

approximately 5,000 children placed in the foster care 

system; 

Whereas children with incarcerated mothers are five times 

more likely to end up in foster care than those with incarcerated fathers; 

Whereas a vast, sound, and consistent body of scientific evidence suggests that— 

(1) the best estimate of the overall effect of incarceration on crime is modest, deterrence effects are negligible; 

(2) increased coordination between local law enforcement and immigration enforcement has not been shown 

to have a measurable impact on reducing crime and have 

been shown to destabilize communities; 

(3) education programs for people in prison have 

been proven to reduce recidivism, yet such programs have 

been underfunded or altogether eliminated at both the 

State and Federal level, including the ban on Pell Grants 

in prison, and restoring Pell Grant access to prisoners 

would increase the employment rate for people with a 

criminal history by 10 percent and improve collective 

earnings by $45 million in the first year after release; 

and 

(4) the root causes of crime and instability are typically poverty, substance use disorder, family and 


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generational trauma, and poor access to health care and 

other basic social services; 

Whereas the consequences of criminal convictions do not end 

with the prison sentence served or fines paid, and a majority of people imprisoned in the United States are expected to return home, return to society, and become productive members of their communities; 

Whereas yearly, over 680,000 people are released from incarceration, and are expected to be taxpayers rather than 

tax burdens, yet the reality is that these individuals go 

home to find that their sentences, although served, are 

far from over; 

Whereas there are approximately 45,000 collateral consequences and civil disabilities across jurisdictions that 

prevent people with criminal records from reentering society, gaining meaningful employment; 

Whereas in many jurisdictions, individuals with a criminal 

record are automatically excluded from certain professional licenses such as those required to be a security 

guard, firefighter, real estate broker, and electrician; 

Whereas an estimated 6.1 million Americans, or 1 in every 

40 adults, are banned from voting due to felony disenfranchisement or laws restricting voting rights for 

those with a current or previous felony conviction; 

Whereas the Federal Government has invested massive 

amounts of funding in policing, immigration enforcement, 

and prison and detention systems, which has accelerated 

mass criminalization and incarceration and fueled the 

prison industrial complex; 

Whereas 2019 represents the 25th anniversary of the signing 

of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 


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of 1994 (in this resolution referred to as the ‘‘94 Crime 

Bill’’), and awareness that many of the policies contained 

in the 94 Crime Bill have proven harmful to certain communities; 

Whereas the 94 Crime Bill put forward the false view that 

punitive systems of policing and prisons lead to public 

safety and are necessary to combat ‘‘violent’’ crime; 

Whereas by endorsing and financing ineffective and damaging 

policies and practices at the State and local levels, the 94 

Crime Bill encouraged the growth of police and prison infrastructure while limiting, and sometimes depleting, 

community investments that would have increased public 

safety, particularly in underresourced communities; and 

Whereas the Federal Government has a tremendous impact 

on the operation of the criminal legal system at the Federal, State, and local levels and can push for a more humane, dignified, and just society for all: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the time is now for the Federal Govern3 ment to begin a large-scale decarceration effort to reshape 

4 the American legal system to— 

5 (1) support and commit to a participatory peo6 ple’s process that recognizes directly impacted people 

7 as experts on transforming the justice system, who 

8 speak from experience about the devastation of crim9 inalization and incarceration and offer community10 oriented solutions that reduce harm by— 


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1 (A) empowering directly impacted commu2 nities, through people’s assemblies, townhalls, 

3 listening sessions, and workshops, to inform 

4 and draft legislation to repeal and dismantle 

5 the 94 Crime Bill and other punitive policies, 

6 and replace them with a holistic and commu7 nity-led public health and safety agenda; and 

8 (B) advancing a community-led platform of 

9 justice, freedom, and safety, which shifts re10 sources away from criminalization and incarcer11 ation and toward policies and investments that 

12 fairly and equitably ensure that all people can 

13 thrive; 

14 (2) dramatically reduce the incarcerated popu15 lations to— 

16 (A) decriminalize behavior and divert cases 

17 that do not require confinement by— 

18 (i) providing tax incentives to local 

19 governments and States that commit to 

20 policies such as repealing truth-in-sen21 tencing and three-strike provisions to sig22 nificantly reduce the prison and jail popu23 lation; 

24 (ii) decriminalizing sex work by re25 moving criminal and civil penalties related 


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1 to consensual sex work and addressing 

2 structural inequities that impede the safe3 ty, dignity, and wellbeing of all individuals, 

4 especially those most vulnerable to dis5 crimination on the basis of race, gender 

6 identity or expression, sexual orientation, 

7 disability, socioeconomic status, and citi8 zenship status; 

9 (iii) decriminalizing addiction, home10 lessness, poverty, HIV status, and disabil11 ities, including mental health diagnosis, by 

12 legalizing marijuana and overdose preven13 tion sites, declining to criminally prosecute 

14 low-level offenses such as loitering and 

15 theft of necessity goods, and expunging the 

16 records of individuals for all drug-related 

17 offenses; 

18 (iv) dramatically increasing diversion 

19 opportunities, community service, restora20 tive justice programming, and treatment 

21 options that minimize court involvement 

22 and result in no prison time for most of23 fenses where the person does not cause or 

24 intend to cause harm; 


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1 (v) ending the criminalization of 

2 Black and brown students in school, in3 cluding ending zero-tolerance school dis4 cipline policies and dress code and appear5 ance policies that disproportionately impact 

6 girls of color and LGBTQ+ students, the 

7 removal of police and school resource offi8 cers, the decriminalization of truancy, and 

9 the reallocation of funds to support trauma 

10 informed, comprehensive mental health, 

11 and restorative services; 

12 (vi) ensuring that any and all new re13 duced sentencing provisions be applied 

14 retroactively and are inclusive of impacted 

15 immigrant communities; 

16 (vii) creating a clemency review board 

17 that is comprised of community, court, and 

18 congressional stakeholders to identify and 

19 make recommendations of people in Fed20 eral facilities who should be considered for 

21 clemency consideration by the President; 

22 and 

23 (viii) decriminalizing the act of migra24 tion by repealing provisions in Federal law 

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1 der crossings, significantly limiting the 

2 conduct-and conviction-based grounds of 

3 deportability and inadmissibility and end4 ing draconian systems of mandatory deten5 tion and automatic deportation; 

6 (B) make confinement last only as long as 

7 necessary by— 

8 (i) capping prison sentences for all 

9 crimes, particularly those that do not cause 

10 serious harm, and where no intention to 

11 cause such harm exists; 

12 (ii) ending the death penalty, includ13 ing effective death sentences of life without 

14 the possibility of parole; 

15 (iii) ending mandatory minimum sen16 tencing and providing incarcerated individ17 uals an opportunity to petition for release 

18 after serving 10 years for any crime by a 

19 review board that includes at least one in20 dividual who has previously served time, to 

21 both encourage and reward people who re22 form themselves and pose no threat to 

23 public safety no matter the offense; 

24 (iv) ending truth-in-sentencing laws 

25 and reinstating Federal parole; 


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1 (v) ending the sentencing disparity be2 tween crack and cocaine; 

3 (vi) establishing a national compas4 sionate release standard that includes a 

5 presumption of release for any person with 

6 a disability who has spent at least 15 years 

7 in prison, as well as any person over the 

8 age of 50 who has spent at least 10 years 

9 in prison, over the age of 55 who has spent 

10 5 years in prison, or over the age of 60; 

11 (vii) requiring States to impose sen12 tencing reviewing standards, particularly 

13 for juveniles sentenced prior to their 18th 

14 birthday, abolishing youth jails, and mak15 ing the detention of children in any form 

16 the absolute last resort; 

17 (viii) repealing overly restrictive ha18 beas corpus rules that make it difficult for 

19 people who have been wrongfully accused 

20 to bring their cases to court; and 

21 (ix) repealing the Prison Litigation 

22 Reform Act of 1996 to return agency to 

23 incarcerated individuals and power to the 

24 courts to carry out regulation and over25 sight through court orders; and 


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1 (C) reduce the risk of recidivism by trans2 forming the experience of confinement by— 

3 (i) ending solitary confinement; 

4 (ii) incarcerating people, to the extent 

5 possible, at a facility closest to their home, 

6 and at a location that comports with their 

7 security destination; 

8 (iii) banning the prosecution of chil9 dren under the age of 18 in adult courts 

10 and ensuring juveniles are not housed in 

11 adult prisons but in community- or home12 based rehabilitation programs; 

13 (iv) allowing transgender individuals 

14 to be housed in a facility that conforms 

15 with their gender identity; 

16 (v) providing access to high-quality, 

17 trauma-informed, and culturally responsive 

18 physical, mental, and behavioral health 

19 care in prisons and jails, including sub20 stance use disorder and mental health 

21 treatment, medication for overdoses, hor22 monal treatment and gender-affirming pro23 cedures, and full reproductive and gyneco24 logical services, including adequate services 


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1 for pregnant, laboring, and postpartum 

2 people; 

3 (vi) providing people who are incarcer4 ated with access to commissary items, and 

5 clothing at rates no higher than those 

6 available on the free market, as well as 

7 programming, educational materials, and 

8 personal property in which all items are 

9 consistent with the individual’s gender 

10 identity and cultural preferences; 

11 (vii) providing high-quality, gender-re12 sponsive education and vocation training 

13 and access to sufficient libraries and read14 ing materials; 

15 (viii) restoring eligibility for Federal 

16 Pell Grants to all students regardless of 

17 immigration status and those incarcerated 

18 in Federal, State, and local facilities with19 out regard to offense or sentence length; 

20 (ix) ending forced labor practices and 

21 requiring incarcerated individuals to be 

22 paid for their labor at a rate that is no 

23 lower than the Federal minimum wage; 

24 (x) providing generous in-person visi25 tation for a reasonable duration of time, 


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1 including regular visitation between incar2 cerated individuals who are primary care3 taker parents and their family members 

4 and access to free phone calls and video 

5 conferencing sessions; 

6 (xi) improving the quality of in-person 

7 visits by allowing partners, parents, and 

8 children to have physical contact, a room 

9 with natural light, a space that allows for 

10 some privacy, a place with food available 

11 for purchase, space for children and par12 ents to play together, and are accessible 

13 for families with disabilities including 

14 American Sign Language interpreters and 

15 fully accessible buildings that are ADA 

16 compliant; 

17 (xii) providing healthy and nutritious 

18 food and room for physical exercise to pro19 mote health; 

20 (xiii) establishing and maintaining 

21 reasonable heating and cooling standards 

22 in all Federal, State, and local prisons, 

23 jails, and detention facilities 

24 (xiv) providing reasonable accom25 modations for people with disabilities as 


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1 required by the Americans with Disabilities 

2 Act and section 504 of the Rehabilitation 

3 Act; 

4 (xv) establishing gender-responsive 

5 practices for all incarcerated people, in6 cluding women, transgender, gender-vari7 ant, and nonbinary individuals, including a 

8 ban on solitary confinement and physical 

9 restraints on pregnant people and ensuring 

10 all body searches are conducted by staff of 

11 the incarcerated person’s preferred gender; 

12 (xvi) explicitly prohibiting discrimina13 tion and mistreatment of incarcerated peo14 ple on the basis of sex, age, race, national 

15 origin, disability, religion, and sexual ori16 entation and gender identity or expression; 

17 (xvii) creating an independent division 

18 or agency to provide oversight of the Bu19 reau of Prisons and Department of Home20 land Security with the authority to inves21 tigate civil rights complaints from incarcer22 ated individuals and ensure prisoners are 

23 housed in safe, healthy environments; 

24 (xviii) providing adequate oversight of 

25 the Prison Rape Elimination Act to ensure 


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1 the safety and protection of all incarcer2 ated people, including LGBTQ+ individ3 uals in prisons and jails; 

4 (xix) eliminating supervision revoca5 tion and reincarceration of people subject 

6 to correctional surveillance who commit 

7 compliance violations such as, but not lim8 ited to, failure to obtain a GED, failure to 

9 secure housing, failure to obtain employ10 ment, or failure to attend mental health or 

11 substance use treatment; and 

12 (xx) providing support to ensure suc13 cessful transition for returning citizens 

14 through targeted and robust reentry pro15 grams, including establishing a Federal 

16 agency dedicated to monitoring and im17 proving reentry supports and services; 

18 (3) ensure that wealth discrimination and cor19 porate profiteering play no role in the determination 

20 of outcomes in the American legal system by— 

21 (A) ending the use of secured bonds or 

22 money bail and providing grants to States to 

23 establish alternate pretrial systems to reduce 

24 the pretrial detention population; 


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1 (B) repealing the use of criminal fees for 

2 probation supervision, presentence investiga3 tions, and drug and alcohol testing; 

4 (C) ending the imposition of court fees and 

5 fines to individuals lacking the ability to pay, 

6 and ending practices that result in incarcer7 ation, extension of supervision, or stripping of 

8 rights for nonpayment of a debt alone; 

9 (D) investing in public defender offices at 

10 both the Federal and State levels, ensuring de11 fender offices have ample capacity—including 

12 immigration law experts—to ensure the quality 

13 of defense a person receives is not dependent on 

14 one’s financial situation and that the quality of 

15 defense is not inhibited by unmanageable case16 loads; 

17 (E) prohibiting private companies from 

18 profiting from jails, prisons, immigration deten19 tion facilities and alternative-to-detention pro20 grams, probation programs, electronic moni21 toring or any other form of mass supervision or 

22 detention; 

23 (F) prohibiting private companies from 

24 profiting from the operation of prisons, jails, 

25 and immigration detention facilities, including 


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1 food services, financial services, commissaries, 

2 and medical care; 

3 (G) delivering resources towards education, 

4 fair employment, civic engagement, and access 

5 to housing, transportation, and social services 

6 for currently and formerly incarcerated people; 

7 (H) ensuring the right to vote for all citi8 zens, including incarcerated and formerly incar9 cerated people and individuals awaiting trial; 

10 and 

11 (I) ending the practice of prison gerry12 mandering whereby incarcerated persons are 

13 counted in Census population counts as resi14 dents of correctional facilities and not their 

15 most recent residence prior to imprisonment; 

16 and 

17 (4) rebuild the communities most harmed by 

18 the failed policies of mass incarceration through— 

19 (A) ensuring that dignity and stability is 

20 within everyone’s reach by— 

21 (i) creating a health care system that 

22 guarantees every American comprehensive 

23 care, including repealing the Hyde Amend24 ment and ensuring safe and legal access to 

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1 ices, and eliminating out-of-pocket monthly 

2 premiums, copays, and deductibles for sub3 stance use disorder and mental health 

4 treatment in communities; 

5 (ii) investing $1 trillion to modernize 

6 and expand the stock of social housing 

7 throughout the country, providing targeted 

8 down payment and rent payment assist9 ance, incentivizing local rent control pro10 grams, and conditioning Federal funding 

11 on the removal of apartment ban policies 

12 and exclusionary zoning requirements; 

13 (iii) providing stability to the workers 

14 who drive our economy by raising the min15 imum wage to $15 and tying it to infla16 tion, providing a Federal job to every per17 son who wants one, ending the submin18 imum wage and fairly compensating people 

19 who provide immense value to their fami20 lies and communities through nontradi21 tional work such as childcare and family 

22 caregiving; 

23 (iv) ensuring all communities, specifi24 cally those communities disproportionately 

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1 cial, and economic injustice, have access to 

2 clean, safe, and healthy homes, water, 

3 food, and air, including the promotion, im4 plementation, and funding to support the 

5 Green New Deal; 

6 (v) providing free transportation and 

7 removing criminal penalties associated with 

8 accessing systems of transportation, such 

9 as fare evasion, transportation and street 

10 safety violations that result in ticketing, 

11 court, and technical assistance programs, 

12 and banning the use of biometric data such 

13 as facial analytics technology as it relates 

14 to travel; 

15 (vi) providing comprehensive supports 

16 and sustained resources to crime survivors, 

17 including survivors of sexual assault, traf18 ficking and child exploitation, domestic vio19 lence, and gun violence and their families 

20 in the form of mental health treatment 

21 costs, trauma services, victim relocations 

22 services, and help covering basic needs 

23 such as housing, food, and transportation; 

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1 duction and sales, including a permanent 

2 ban on assault-type weapons, a mass gun 

3 buyback program, and supporting commu4 nity-based violence and trauma interrup5 tion initiatives; 

6 (viii) ensuring reparations are made 

7 through a systematic accounting, acknowl8 edgement, and repair of past and ongoing 

9 harms to Black communities, specifically 

10 descendants of enslaved people in America 

11 that includes monetary compensation and 

12 large-scale social investments that include, 

13 but are not limited to, debt free college, 

14 homeownership assistance, guaranteed 

15 health care, and business financing sup16 port; 

17 (ix) dismantling and rebuilding a com18 passionate, just, and humane immigration 

19 system that keeps families together and es20 tablishes a pathway to citizenship for mil21 lions of undocumented immigrants living 

22 and contributing to society; and 

23 (x) supporting and prioritizing the 

24 preservation of families, particularly those 

25 impacted by the legal and immigration sysVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Nov 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR702.IH HR702

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•HRES 702 IH 

1 tems, by removing strict timelines related 

2 to the termination of parental rights under 

3 the Adoption and Safe Families Act, re4 pealing provisions of the Immigration and 

5 Nationality Act that mandate detention 

6 and allow for the forced separation of im7 migrant children and families, promoting 

8 policies and practices focused on trauma 

9 prevention and support, family reunifica10 tion and keeping families together, and 

11 strengthening and enforcing the Indian 

12 Child Welfare Act to ensure Native chil13 dren impacted by parental incarceration 

14 can remain within Tribal communities; and 

15 (B) ending militarized policing practices 

16 and investing in services that provide real safe17 ty through— 

18 (i) stopping the transfer of military 

19 equipment to local police departments, en20 couraging district and States attorney of21 fices to report civilian death by an officer 

22 to the Department of Justice, and elimi23 nating qualified immunity, for police and 

24 correctional officers; 


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•HRES 702 IH 

1 (ii) prohibiting State and local law en2 forcement agencies from carrying out Fed3 eral immigration enforcement activities, in4 cluding a prompt end to Secure Commu5 nities programs and programs imple6 mented under section 287(g) of the Immi7 gration and Nationality Act, and ensuring 

8 that localities are never required to share 

9 information with Federal immigration en10 forcement agencies; 

11 (iii) prioritizing law enforcement re12 sources to dramatically increase the solve 

13 rate of the most serious offenses, such as 

14 shootings, homicides, and sexual assaults, 

15 including fully eliminating the rape-kit 

16 backlog; 

17 (iv) testing, implementing, and evalu18 ating methods of processing 911 calls that 

19 reduce unnecessary contact between law 

20 enforcement and community members; 

21 (v) creating and supporting first-re22 sponder agencies and partnerships to solve 

23 problems that arise from substance use 

24 disorders, mental health diagnoses, and 

25 poverty that do not require criminal enVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Nov 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR702.IH HR702

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•HRES 702 IH 

1 forcement or armed officers, including the 

2 designation of a non-911 number for dis3 patch of crisis and trauma intervention 

4 teams; 

5 (vi) providing resources for non-law 

6 enforcement led, community-based violence 

7 and trauma interruption models; 

8 (vii) funding and empowering civilian 

9 review boards to ensure communities have 

10 input in the hiring and firing of police offi11 cers, disciplinary actions, budget and policy 

12 decisions, and access to relevant agency in13 formation; 

14 (viii) establishing standards and re15 porting, and providing training on implicit 

16 bias, use of force, de-escalation, including 

17 nonlethal interventions and responding to 

18 crises involving youth, immigrants, people 

19 with disabilities, people with different reli20 gious affiliations, English Language 

21 Learners, LGBTQ+, and gender noncon22 forming individuals; 

23 (ix) eliminating the doctrine of abso24 lute immunity for prosecutors and pro25 viding resources to support better prosecuVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Nov 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR702.IH HR702

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•HRES 702 IH 

1 torial practices, in line with defendants’ 

2 constitutional and statutory rights; 

3 (x) ensuring the economic vitality of 

4 communities dependent on the incarcer5 ation industry by guaranteeing a job for 

6 every person who currently works in a jail 

7 or prison, including any necessary training 

8 or education; 

9 (xi) banning law enforcement use of 

10 facial analytics technology, including sur11 veillance technologies and risk assessment 

12 software that are subject to algorithmic 

13 bias; 

14 (xii) providing law enforcement, first 

15 responders, and civilian staff with ade16 quate mental health services; 

17 (xiii) severely restricting the use of 

18 civil asset forfeiture by police departments 

19 and prosecutor offices, limiting such for20 feitures to efforts to disrupt major crime 

21 organizations, such as terrorist networks 

22 and international drug cartels; 

23 (xiv) reinstituting the Department of 

24 Justice’s role in investigating police de25 partments that repeatedly violate citizens’ 


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•HRES 702 IH 

1 civil rights, and establishing adequate over2 sight of consent decrees; and 

3 (xv) ensuring criminal liability for civil 

4 rights and Brady violations resulting from 

5 police or prosecutorial misconduct. 

Æ 


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