End Racial Profiling Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-3618
Sponsor: Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [D-MI-14]
Introduced: 2011-12-08 in the House
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Border security and unlawful immigration
Civil actions and liability
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal justice information and records
Customs enforcement
Department of Justice
Government information and archives
Government liability
Law enforcement administration and funding
Racial and ethnic relations
Right of privacy

Summary:
action_date: 2011-12-08
text: 
End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 - Prohibits any law enforcement agent or agency from engaging in racial profiling. Defines &quot;racial profiling&quot; to mean the practice of a law enforcement agent or agency relying, to any degree, on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or religion in selecting which individual to subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory activities, or in deciding upon the scope and substance of law enforcement activity following the initial investigatory activity, except when there is trustworthy information relevant to the locality and timeframe that links a person of a particular race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or religion to an identified criminal incident or scheme. 
 
Authorizes the United States or an individual injured by racial profiling to enforce this Act in a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief.
 
Requires: (1) federal law enforcement agencies to maintain adequate policies and procedures to eliminate racial profiling and to cease existing practices that permit racial profiling; and (2) state or local governmental entities or state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies that apply for grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program and the Cops on the Beat Program to certify that they maintain adequate policies and procedures for eliminating racial profiling and have eliminated any existing practices that permit or encourage racial profiling. 
 
Requires the Attorney General to issue regulations to ensure that administrative complaint procedures and independent audit programs provide an appropriate response to allegations of racial profiling by law enforcement agents or agencies.
 
Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants and contracts for the collection of data relating to racial profiling and for the development of best practices and systems to eliminate racial profiling. Requires: (1) the Attorney General to issue regulations for the collection and compilation of data on racial profiling, and (2) the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics to analyze the data collected for any statistically significant disparities. 
 
Requires the Attorney General to submit annual reports on racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-01-06
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
action_date: 2011-12-08
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2011-12-08
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E2217)
action_date: 2011-12-08
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-12-08
text: Introduced in House