I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6400 
To require the release of certain individuals in the custody of the United 
States because of their risk of exposure during a national emergency, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 26, 2020 
Mr. JEFFRIES (for himself, Ms. BASS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. RICHMOND, Mrs. 
WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis-
sissippi, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Mr. TED LIEU of California) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary 
A BILL 
To require the release of certain individuals in the custody 
of the United States because of their risk of exposure 
during a national emergency, 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 ‘‘Emergency Commu-
nity Supervision Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) As of the date of introduction of this Act, 
the novel coronavirus has spread to all 50 States, 
the District of Columbia, and 3 territories. 
(2) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention have projected that between 160,000,000 
and 214,000,000 people could be infected by the 
novel coronavirus in the United States over the 
course of the pandemic. 
(3) Although the United States has less than 5 
percent of the world’s population, the United States 
holds approximately 21 percent of the world’s pris-
oners and leads the world in the number of individ-
uals incarcerated, with nearly 2,200,000 people in-
carcerated in State and Federal prisons and local 
jails. 
(4) Studies have shown that individuals age out 
of crime starting around 25 years of age, and re-
leased individuals over the age of 50 have a very low 
recidivism rate. 
(5) According to public health experts, incarcer-
ated individuals are particularly vulnerable to being 
gravely impacted by the novel corona virus pandemic 
because— 
(A) they have higher rates of underlying 
health issues than members of the general pub-
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lic, including higher rates of respiratory disease, 
heart disease, diabetes, obesity, HIV/AIDS, 
substance abuse, hepatitis, and other conditions 
that suppress immune response; and 
(B) the close conditions and lack of access 
to hygiene products in prisons make these insti-
tutions 
unusually 
susceptible 
to 
viral 
pandemics. 
(6) The spread of communicable viral disease in 
the United States generally constitutes a serious, 
heightened threat to the safety of incarcerated indi-
viduals, and there is a serious threat to the general 
public that prisons may become incubators of com-
munity spread of communicable viral disease. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COVERED HEALTH CONDITION.—The term 
‘‘covered health condition’’ with respect to an indi-
vidual, means the individual— 
(A) is pregnant; 
(B) has chronic lung disease or asthma; 
(C) has congestive heart failure or coro-
nary artery disease; 
(D) has diabetes; 
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(E) has a neurological condition that weak-
ens the ability to cough; 
(F) has HIV; 
(G) has sickle cell anemia; 
(H) has cancer; or 
(I) has a weakened immune system. 
(2) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
individual’’ means an individual who— 
(A) is 50 years of age or older; 
(B) has a covered health condition; or 
(C) is within 12 months of release from in-
carceration. 
(3) NATIONAL
EMERGENCY
RELATION
TO
A 
COMMUNICABLE
DISEASE.—The 
term 
‘‘national 
emergency relating to a communicable disease’’ 
means— 
(A) an emergency involving Federal pri-
mary responsibility determined to exist by the 
President under the section 501(b) of the Rob-
ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191(b)) with re-
spect to a communicable disease; or 
(B) a national emergency declared by the 
President under the National Emergencies Act 
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(50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with respect to a com-
municable disease. 
SEC. 4. PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS IN COMMU-
NITY SUPERVISION. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), beginning on the date on which a national emergency 
relating to a communicable disease is declared and ending 
on the date that is 60 days after such national emergency 
expires— 
(1) the Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall 
place in community supervision all covered individ-
uals who are in the custody of the Bureau of Pris-
ons; and 
(2) the Director of the United States Marshals 
Service shall place in community supervision all cov-
ered individuals who are in the custody of the 
United States Marshals Service. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—In carrying out subsection (a), 
each Director— 
(1) may not place in community supervision any 
individual determined, by clear and convincing evi-
dence, to be likely to pose a specific and substantial 
risk of causing bodily injury or using violent force 
against the person of another; 
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(2) shall place in the file of each individual de-
scribed in paragraph (1) documentation of such de-
termination, including the evidence used to make the 
determination; and 
(3) not later than 180 days after the date on 
which the national emergency relating to a commu-
nicable disease expires, shall provide a report to 
Congress documenting— 
(A) the demographic data (including race, 
gender, age, offense of conviction, and criminal 
history level) of the individuals denied place-
ment in community supervision under para-
graph (1); and 
(B) the justification for the denials de-
scribed in subparagraph (A). 
(c) LIMITATION
ON
COMMUNITY
SUPERVISION 
PLACEMENT.—In placing covered individuals into commu-
nity supervision under this section, the Director of the Bu-
reau of Prisons and the Director of the United States 
Marshals Service shall take into account and prioritize 
placements that enable adequate social distancing, which 
include home confinement or other forms of low in-person- 
contact supervised release. 
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SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON PRE-TRIAL DETENTION. 
Notwithstanding section 3142 of title 18, United 
States Code, beginning on the date on which a national 
emergency relating to a communicable disease is declared 
and ending on the date that is 60 days after such national 
emergency expires, the Government may not seek to de-
tain, and a judicial officer (as defined in section 3156 of 
title 18, United States Code) may not order the detain-
ment of, any individual, unless the Government shows by 
clear and convincing evidence that the individual is likely 
to pose a flight risk or specific and substantial risk of 
causing bodily injury or using violent force against the 
person of another. 
SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON SUPERVISED RELEASE. 
Beginning on the date on which a national emergency 
relating to a communicable disease is declared and ending 
on the date that is 60 days after such national emergency 
expires, the Office of Probation and Pretrial Services of 
the Administrative Office of the United States Courts 
shall take measures to prevent the spread of the commu-
nicable viral disease among individuals under supervision 
by— 
(1) suspending the requirement that individuals 
determined to be a lower risk of reoffending report 
in person to their probation or parole officer; 
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(2) identifying individuals who have successfully 
completed not less than 18 months of supervision 
and transferring such individuals to administrative 
supervision or terminating supervision, as appro-
priate; and 
(3) suspending the use of incarceration as a 
sanction for violations of probation or parole that do 
not constitute a new felony offense. 
SEC. 7. PROHIBITION. 
No individual who is granted placement in community 
supervision, termination of supervision, placement on ad-
ministrative supervision, or pre-trial release shall be re- 
incarcerated, placed on supervision or active supervision, 
or ordered detained pre-trial only as a result of the expira-
tion of the national emergency relating to a communicable 
disease. 
Æ 
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