I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2009 
To clarify access to courts of the United States for persons seeking redress 
for a violation of a constitutional right by the United States or any 
agent, person, or entity acting in the name of the United States, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 18, 2021 
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To clarify access to courts of the United States for persons 
seeking redress for a violation of a constitutional right 
by the United States or any agent, person, or entity 
acting in the name of the United States, 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 ‘‘Access to the American 
Courts Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The United States Constitution sets forth 
limits on the ability of the United States to act. 
(2) The Constitution would not have been 
adopted and therefore the United States of America 
would not have been formed or come into existence 
unless the Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments 
to the Constitution, had not been adopted prior to 
its approval by the first 13 States forming the 
United States of America. 
(3) The right of the American people to hold 
the United States accountable for violations of the 
Constitution committed by people acting allegedly in 
the name of the United States has been the corner-
stone and bedrock upon which the freedom of the 
American people has been based. 
(4) The right of the American people to come 
before a court and seek redress and thereby hold the 
Government of the United States accountable for 
violations of the Constitution is now seriously dis-
puted. 
(5) The Executive Branch of the United States 
Government has asserted, in actions filed in the 
United States courts by Americans seeking redress 
for alleged Constitutional violations, that no one can 
sue the Government, even for a Constitutional viola-
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tion, unless the Government first agrees to be sued. 
The Executive Branch has asserted an overbroad in-
terpretation of the extent of sovereign immunity, 
which bars suits against the Government based on 
statutory violations, to now include suits based on 
Constitutional violations as well. 
(6) The effect of the Executive Branch’s exten-
sion of sovereign immunity so as to include constitu-
tional rights as well as statutory rights would be 
that— 
(A) the Bill of Rights would be converted 
to a mere a bill of suggested rights; and 
(B) constitutional rights would be enforce-
able only when and if the Government deigns to 
grant permission for their individual enforce-
ment on a case-by-case basis. 
(7) The Bill of Rights and the other Amend-
ments to the Constitution are not mere suggestions, 
but the inherent and enforceable rights possessed by 
all American people. These Amendments grant to all 
Americans the right to seek redress for Constitu-
tional violations committed in the name of the 
United States without first having to obtain the per-
mission of the Government before seeking such re-
dress in Federal court. 
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SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) all Americans should have access Federal 
courts in order to seek relief and redress for alleged 
claims of violations of constitutional rights; and 
(2) the doctrine of sovereign immunity, as well 
as any assertion of any statute of limitation or equi-
table laches (under equity or statute) was never in-
tended to bar, restrict, hinder or otherwise delay ac-
cess to court or the filing of a claim seeking relief 
or redress against the Government for an alleged 
violation of a constitutional right. 
SEC. 4. JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS. 
The district courts of the United States shall have 
jurisdiction to hear any complaint or claim for relief based 
upon an alleged violation of a constitutional right by the 
United States or any agent, person or entity acting in the 
name of the United States. Each such court has authority 
to grant any relief necessary to redress a violation of a 
constitutional right, including monetary, injunctive, and 
declaratory relief. 
SEC. 5. RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. 
A person filing an action in a district court of the 
United States seeking redress for a violation of a constitu-
tional right by the United States or any agent, person, 
or entity acting in the name of the United States shall 
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have the right to request a jury trial. In the case of an 
action containing both constitutional and non-constitu-
tional claims against the United States, the court shall 
may grant jury trial for all claims, and shall grant a jury 
trial for the constitutional claims. 
SEC. 6. ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS. 
In the case that the plaintiff prevails in an action 
brought against the United States seeking redress for a 
violation of a constitutional right by the United States or 
any agent, person, or entity acting in the name of the 
United States, the court shall award the plaintiff attorney 
fees and costs. 
Æ 
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