No Money Bail Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.1249 | Sponsor: Rep. Lieu, Ted (D-CA)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
No Money Bail Act of 2021
This bill restricts the use of money bail (i.e., the payment of money as a condition of pretrial release) in criminal cases.
Specifically, it prohibits the use of money bail in federal criminal cases.
Additionally, it makes a state that uses a money bail system ineligible for funds under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

To discourage the use of payment of money as a condition of pretrial 
           release in criminal cases, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``No Money Bail Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Nearly 60 percent of the inmates in jails in the United 
        States are pretrial detainees who have not been convicted of a 
        crime, an estimated 75 percent of whom have been charged with 
        nonviolent crimes.
            (2) Under current bail systems that use payment of money as 
        a condition of pretrial release, nearly 50 percent of the most 
        dangerous pretrial detainees are released without supervision, 
        according to a study by the Arnold Foundation.
            (3) Throughout the Nation, those with money can buy their 
        freedom while poor defendants remain incarcerated awaiting 
        trial.
            (4) Pretrial detention costs State and local governments an 
        estimated $14,000,000,000 each year.
            (5) Pretrial detention should be based on whether the 
        accused is likely to fail to appear in court or is a threat to 
        public safety, not the ability to pay money as a condition of 
        pretrial release.
            (6) The States, the United States Department of Justice, 
        law enforcement agencies, public officials, and community 
        groups should collaborate to develop pretrial detention systems 
        that improve public safety, reduce costs, and discourage 
        criminal behavior.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS UNDER THE BYRNE JAG PROGRAM.

    Section 505 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Eligibility.--Beginning with the third fiscal year 
        beginning after the enactment of the `No Money Bail Act of 
        2021', the Attorney General shall not allocate any amounts 
        appropriated to carry out this part to any State that uses 
        payment of money as a condition of pretrial release with 
        respect to criminal cases.''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ``in paragraph 
                (2)'' and inserting ``in paragraphs (2) and (3)''; and
            (2) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) by striking ``If the Attorney General'' and 
                inserting ``(1) in general.--If the Attorney General''; 
                and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) State ineligible due to system of bail.--
        Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the Attorney General 
        determines with respect to any grant period that a State is 
        made ineligible by subsection (a)(3), the Attorney General 
        shall reallocate any amounts allocated to or that would have 
        been allocated to such State for such period--
                    ``(A) among the other eligible States; and
                    ``(B) in proportion to allocations among eligible 
                States under subsection (a).''.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF MONEY BAIL IN FEDERAL CRIMINAL CASES.

    Notwithstanding any provision of Federal law, no justice, judge, or 
other judicial official in any court created by or under article III of 
the Constitution of the United States may use payment of money as a 
condition of pretrial release in any criminal case.
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