Justice in Policing Act of 2020

Bill: 116-s-3912
Sponsor: Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2020-06-08 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Administrative remedies
Aging
Assault and harassment offenses
Aviation and airports
Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Child safety and welfare
Civil actions and liability
Community life and organization
Congressional oversight
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Crime victims
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal justice information and records
Customs enforcement
Department of Justice
Detention of persons
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Due process and equal protection
Elementary and secondary education
Employee hiring
Employee performance
Employment and training programs
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Evidence and witnesses
Executive agency funding and structure
Firearms and explosives
Foreign language and bilingual programs
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Hate crimes
Human rights
Immigration status and procedures
Judicial procedure and administration
Juvenile crime and gang violence
Labor-management relations
Law enforcement administration and funding
Law enforcement officers
Legal fees and court costs
Mental health
Military civil functions
Military facilities and property
Motor vehicles
Pedestrians and bicycling
Performance measurement
Personnel records
Photography and imaging
Racial and ethnic relations
Religion
Right of privacy
Sound recording
State and local government operations
Telephone and wireless communication
Violent crime
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2020-06-08
text: 

Justice in Policing Act of 2020

 
This bill addresses a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices and law enforcement accountability. It includes measures to increase accountability for law enforcement misconduct, to enhance transparency and data collection, and to eliminate discriminatory policing practices.
 
The bill facilitates federal enforcement of constitutional violations (e.g., excessive use of force) by state and local law enforcement. Among other things, it does the following: 
 
 
lowers the criminal intent standard&#8212;from willful to knowing or reckless&#8212;to convict a law enforcement officer for misconduct in a federal prosecution, 
 
limits qualified immunity as a defense to liability in a private civil action against a law enforcement officer or state correctional officer, and
 
authorizes the Department of Justice to issue subpoenas in investigations of police departments for a pattern or practice of discrimination. 
 
 
The bill also creates a national registry&#8212;the National Police Misconduct Registry&#8212;to compile data on complaints and records of police misconduct.
 
It establishes a framework to prohibit racial profiling at the federal, state, and local levels.
 
The bill establishes new requirements for law enforcement officers and agencies, including to report data on use-of-force incidents, to obtain training on implicit bias and racial profiling, and to wear body cameras.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-06-08
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2020-06-08
text: Introduced in Senate