Title: Nonviolent Drug Crime Expungement Act of 2020
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Nonviolent Drug Crime Expungement Act of 2020
This bill establishes a process to expunge convictions and conduct sentencing review hearings for federal nonviolent offenses related to cannabis, cocaine, or crack. Further, the bill requires a state, in order to be eligible for Department of Justice grants, to have a substantially similar resentencing and expungement program for nonviolent offenses under state law.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8980 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8980

To provide for the resentencing and expungement of nonviolent offenses 
 for individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 16, 2020

   Mr. Hall introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the resentencing and expungement of nonviolent offenses 
 for individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, 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 ``Nonviolent Drug Crime Expungement 
Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. RESENTENCING AND EXPUNGEMENT.

    (a) Expungement of Federal Nonviolent Offense Convictions for 
Individuals Not Under a Criminal Justice Sentence.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, each Federal district shall conduct 
        a comprehensive review and issue an order expunging each 
        conviction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency for a 
        Federal nonviolent offense entered by each Federal court in the 
        district before the date of enactment of this Act, for each 
        individual adversely impacted by the War on Drugs. Each Federal 
        court shall also issue an order expunging any arrests 
        associated with each expunged conviction or adjudication of 
        juvenile delinquency.
            (2) Notification.--To the extent practicable, each Federal 
        district shall notify each individual whose arrest, conviction, 
        or adjudication of delinquency has been expunged pursuant to 
        this subsection that their arrest, conviction, or adjudication 
        of juvenile delinquency has been expunged, and the effect of 
        such expungement.
            (3) Right to petition court for expungement.--At any point 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, any individual 
        adversely impacted by the War on Drugs with a prior conviction 
        or adjudication of juvenile delinquency for a Federal 
        nonviolent offense, who is not under a criminal justice 
        sentence, may file a motion for expungement. If the expungement 
        of such a conviction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency is 
        required pursuant to this Act, the court shall expunge the 
        conviction or adjudication, and any associated arrests. If the 
        individual is indigent, counsel shall be appointed to represent 
        the individual in any proceedings under this subsection.
            (4) Sealed record.--The court shall seal all records 
        related to a conviction or adjudication of juvenile delinquency 
        that has been expunged under this subsection. Such records may 
        only be made available by further order of the court.
    (b) Sentencing Review for Individuals Under a Criminal Justice 
Sentence.--
            (1) In general.--For any individual adversely impacted by 
        the War on Drugs who is under a criminal justice sentence for a 
        Federal nonviolent offense, the court that imposed the sentence 
        shall, on motion of the individual, the Director of the Bureau 
        of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or the court, 
        conduct a sentencing review hearing. If the individual is 
        indigent, counsel shall be appointed to represent the 
        individual in any sentencing review proceedings under this 
        subsection.
            (2) Potential reduced resentencing.--After a sentencing 
        hearing under paragraph (1), a court shall--
                    (A) expunge each conviction or adjudication of 
                juvenile delinquency for a Federal nonviolent offense 
                entered by the court before the date of enactment of 
                this Act, and any associated arrest;
                    (B) vacate the existing sentence or disposition of 
                juvenile delinquency and, if applicable, impose any 
                remaining sentence or disposition of juvenile 
                delinquency on the individual as if this Act, and the 
                amendments made by this Act, were in effect at the time 
                the offense was committed; and
                    (C) order that all records related to a conviction 
                or adjudication of juvenile delinquency that has been 
                expunged or a sentence or disposition of juvenile 
                delinquency that has been vacated under this Act be 
                sealed and only be made available by further order of 
                the court.
    (c) Effect of Expungement.--An individual who has had an arrest, a 
conviction, or juvenile delinquency adjudication expunged under this 
section--
            (1) may treat the arrest, conviction, or adjudication as if 
        it never occurred; and
            (2) shall be immune from any civil or criminal penalties 
        related to perjury, false swearing, or false statements, for a 
        failure to disclose such arrest, conviction, or adjudication.
    (d) Exception.--An individual who at sentencing received an 
aggravating role adjustment pursuant to United States Sentencing 
Guideline 3B1.1(a) in relation to a Federal nonviolent offense 
conviction shall not be eligible for expungement of that conviction 
under this section.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``expunge'' means, with respect to an arrest, 
        a conviction, or a juvenile delinquency adjudication, the 
        removal of the record of such arrest, conviction, or 
        adjudication from each official index or public record.
            (2) The term ``under a criminal justice sentence'' means, 
        with respect to an individual, that the individual is serving a 
        term of probation, parole, supervised release, imprisonment, 
        official detention, pre-release custody, or work release, 
        pursuant to a sentence or disposition of juvenile delinquency.
            (3) The term ``individual adversely impacted by the War on 
        Drugs'' means an individual who has been arrested for or 
        convicted of the sale, possession, use, manufacture, or 
        cultivation of cannabis, cocaine, or crack (except for a 
        conviction involving distribution to a minor), or whose parent, 
        sibling, spouse, or child has been arrested for or convicted of 
        such an offense.
            (4) The term ``nonviolent offense''means an offense that--
                    (A) does not have as an element the use, attempted 
                use, or threatened use of physical force against the 
                person or property of another; or
                    (B) is not a felony that by its nature involves a 
                substantial risk that physical force against the person 
                or property of another may be used in the course of 
                committing the offense.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE GRANTS.

    Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date that 
is one year after the date of enactment of this Act, in order to be 
eligible for a grant made by the Department of Justice, a State shall 
have in place a resentencing and expungement program that is 
substantially similar to the program under section 2 for nonviolent 
offenses under the laws of that State.
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