I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9045 
To prohibit searches based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or 
sex, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 21, 2020 
Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr. JEFFRIES) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To prohibit searches based on race, ethnicity, national origin, 
religion, or sex, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Citizen Justice Res-
toration Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. PRETEXTUAL ACTION UNDER COLOR OF LAW. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A person, acting under color of 
State or Federal law, may not base, to any degree, a deci-
sion to search, seize, or scrutinize an individual on actual 
or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or sex 
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(including gender, gender identity, and sexual orienta-
tion). 
(b) INADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE.—Except as pro-
vided in subsection (c), evidence obtained as a result of 
such a search or seizure in violation of subsection (a) shall 
not be admissible to be offered as evidence against a de-
fendant— 
(1) in any Federal or State criminal proceeding, 
including a proceeding for revocation of parole and 
probation; or 
(2) in any civil enforcement proceeding brought 
by the United States, any State, or any agency or 
political subdivision thereof. 
(c) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply in 
the case of a search or seizure that was motivated by rea-
sonable suspicion based on specific and articulable facts 
that include trustworthy distinguishing information, rel-
evant to the locality and timeframe, about an individual 
who committed an identified crime, which information in-
cludes a particular characteristic described in subsection 
(a), if that distinguishing information is sufficiently spe-
cific that it does not describe a substantial subset of indi-
viduals sharing that characteristic, or of individuals of the 
relevant age sharing that characteristic. 
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SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY OF THE CONSTITUTION, LAWS, AND 
TREATIES OF THE UNITED STATES ON COL-
LATERAL REVIEW. 
(a) GRANT OF HABEAS CORPUS WHEN JUDGMENT 
IN ERROR.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
an application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of 
a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State 
court shall be granted with respect to any Federal claim 
that was adjudicated on the merits in State court pro-
ceedings, which adjudication was in error. 
(b) 
NEW
CONSTITUTIONAL
RULES.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, in the case of a new 
rule of constitutional law announced by the United States 
Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals, or 
the United States District Court— 
(1) such rule shall be retroactive to cases on 
collateral review; 
(2) an application for a writ of habeas corpus 
raising a claim under such rule may be made at any 
time; and 
(3) a second or successive application for a writ 
of habeas corpus may be made seeking the benefit 
of such rule regardless of whether the same claim 
was presented in a prior application made prior to 
the announcement of the new rule. 
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SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 
(a) LAWS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION.—An ambiguity 
in a statute that provides protection against discrimina-
tion on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, 
religion, disability, or sex (including gender, gender iden-
tity, and sexual orientation) shall be construed in the man-
ner that will provide the greatest protection against such 
discrimination. For purposes of this subsection, the Reli-
gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 
2000bb–1) is not a statute that provides protection 
against discrimination on the basis of religion. 
(b) OTHER LAWS.—An ambiguity in a statute de-
signed to provide protection for freedom of speech or of 
the press, or for individual informational privacy, or for 
the environment, or for consumers, shall be construed in 
the manner that will provide the greatest protection for 
freedom of speech or of the press, or for individual infor-
mational privacy, for the environment, or for consumers, 
respectively. 
(c) CONSTITUTIONAL AVOIDANCE.—No statute de-
scribed in this section shall be construed so as to avoid 
a constitutional question if that construction differs from 
the construction required under this section. 
(d) LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion may be construed to prevent the liberal construction 
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of any statute not specified in this section, in order to 
serve its remedial purpose. 
SEC. 5. PRIVATE RIGHTS OF ACTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, an individual may bring an action in the ap-
propriate district court of the United States seeking dam-
ages and injunctive relief for a violation of a Federal law 
or regulation if the individual— 
(1) is within a class of individuals that the law 
or regulation was intended to or does benefit; and 
(2) was harmed by the violation of the law or 
regulation, 
regardless of whether the law or regulation provides such 
a private right of action, or provides other enforcement 
mechanisms. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply in 
the case of a Federal law or regulation that explicitly pre-
cludes a private right of action. 
SEC. 6. BOUNTY FOR CITIZEN SUITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action brought under 
any citizen suit provision under a Federal law, in which 
the plaintiff prevails in whole or in part, the court shall 
award the plaintiff a bounty of $100 to be paid by the 
defendant against whom the plaintiff prevailed. 
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(b) MULTIPLE PLAINTIFFS.—In the case of a civil 
action described in subsection (a) in which there are mul-
tiple plaintiffs, the court shall divide the award under sub-
section (a) equally among the plaintiffs. 
(c) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—In the case of 
a civil action described in subsection (a) in which there 
are multiple defendants, such defendants are jointly and 
severally liable for the award described in subsection (a). 
SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof 
to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remain-
der of the Act, and the application of such provision to 
other persons or circumstances shall not be affected there-
by. 
Æ 
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