RECLAIM Act

Bill: 116-s-4266
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Introduced: 2020-07-22
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Civil actions and liability

Crime prevention

Crime victims

Crimes against property

Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation

Disaster relief and insurance

Government liability

Law enforcement administration and funding

Law enforcement officers

Protest and dissent

State and local government operations
Latest action: action_date: 2020-07-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-07-22
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Restitution for Economic losses Caused by Leaders who Allow Insurrection and Mayhem Act or the RECLAIM Act</b></p> <p>This bill provides for civil liability in certain instances against an official who recognizes a law enforcement-free zone and contains other related provisions.</p> <p>The bill defines such a zone as an area that law enforcement is entitled to access but is instructed to not access or only access in exceptional circumstances, but generally does not include instances where law enforcement temporarily withholds from an area in response to an imminent threat. </p> <p>An official shall be liable to a person who suffers certain physical harm or property damage from a third party's criminal act if, among other requirements, the official directed law enforcement to recognize a law enforcement-free zone and the criminal act and harm was foreseeable and occurred within the zone. An official who prohibits law enforcement from taking a law enforcement action that would prevent or mitigate physical harm or property damage related to a riot shall also be liable to a person who suffered harm or property damage caused during the riot, in certain instances.</p> <p>The bill also provides for triple damages in certain instances for an individual who prevails in a civil rights lawsuit against an official who recognized a law enforcement-free zone or prohibited a law enforcement action related to a riot.</p> <p>States and local government entities that receive certain law enforcement grants or disaster relief may not take certain actions such as (1) prohibiting law enforcement actions that would mitigate injuries to individuals or property from a riot, or (2) recognizing a law enforcement-free zone.</p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4266 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 22, 2020 Mr. Cruz introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide civil liability for injuries in law enforcement free zones, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Restitution for Economic losses Caused by Leaders who Allow Insurrection and Mayhem Act or the RECLAIM Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Law enforcement officers are vital to the protection and safety of communities. (2) Elected officials and other senior officials abuse the public’s trust and endanger their citizens when they refuse to provide law enforcement services to protect life and property. (3) The right to life, liberty, and property are ensured by the Constitution of the United States, and the protection of these rights is the duty of the Federal, State, and local governments. (4) Many local governments have refused to protect the fundamental rights described in paragraph (3) by voluntarily standing down law enforcement officers and allowing roving mobs to destroy property and individual livelihoods, including in— (A) Minneapolis, Minnesota, where unrest and violence destroyed hundreds of buildings and further eroded trust in local law enforcement officers to devastating effect; and (B) Portland, Oregon, where a mob set fire to the Multnomah County Justice Center, looted numerous businesses in the downtown area, injured two police officers, and physically assaulted multiple peaceful protestors and other individuals. (5) Other local governments have gone further still by recognizing autonomous zones in which law enforcement officers are not allowed to operate, including in Seattle, Washington, where the decision of the Mayor of Seattle to withdraw law enforcement officers from multiple blocks of the City of Seattle to create a police free autonomous zone led to significant destruction of property, 4 shootings, and the murder of 2 young Americans in the zone. (6) Elected officials or other senior officials in the State and local governments who refuse to protect life and property from the ravages of a riot or mob behavior make their communities less safe by inviting more crime and violence, and act with willful disregard for the safety, comfort, and livelihoods of the individuals who they refuse to protect. (7) State and local governments that publicly announce the withdrawal of law enforcement protection from individuals or geographical areas so as to encourage and endorse the political and social viewpoints of protestors or rioters erode the public’s trust and fail to provide equal protection of the law. 3. Civil actions for injuries in law enforcement free zones Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes ( 42 U.S.C. 1983 ) is amended— (1) by inserting (a) before Every person ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (b) (1) In this subsection— (A) the term law enforcement free zone — (i) means a geographical area or structure that law enforcement officers are lawfully entitled to access but are instructed, demanded, or forced— (I) not to access; or (II) to access only in exceptional circumstances; and (ii) does not include a geographical area or structure from which law enforcement officers are briefly withheld as a tactical decision intended to resolve safely and expeditiously a specific and ongoing unlawful incident posing an imminent threat to the safety of individuals or law enforcement officers; and (B) the term riot has the meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 18, United States Code. (2) A person with the lawful authority to direct a law enforcement agency shall be subject to treble damages for a violation of subsection (a) if the violation relates to the person's use of such authority to— (A) establish or recognize, whether formally or informally, a law enforcement free zone; or (B) prohibit law enforcement officers from taking law enforcement action related to a riot for any reason other than to prevent imminent harm to the safety of law enforcement officers. . 4. Liability for law-enforcement free zones and standing down during rioting (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Law enforcement free zone The term law enforcement free zone has the meaning given the term in subsection (b) of section 1979 of the Revised Statutes ( 42 U.S.C. 1983 ), as added by section 3 of this Act. (2) Riot The term riot has the meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 18, United States Code. (b) Liability for law enforcement free zones (1) In general A person with the lawful authority to direct a law enforcement agency shall be liable to any person who suffers severe physical injury or death as the result of a third-party’s criminal conduct or whose property is substantially damaged or destroyed as the result of a third-party’s criminal conduct if— (A) the person directed the law enforcement agency to establish or recognize, whether formally or informally, a law enforcement free zone; (B) the criminal conduct and associated harm was foreseeable and occurred in the law enforcement free zone; (C) the law enforcement free zone created an opportunity that otherwise would not have existed for the third-party’s crime to occur; and (D) the criminal conduct affected interstate commerce as described in paragraph (2). (2) Affecting interstate commerce For purposes of paragraph (1), criminal conduct shall be considered to have affected interstate commerce if— (A) the person injured by the criminal conduct traveled in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent to enter the law enforcement free zone; (B) the criminal conduct is a violation of a Federal criminal law; (C) the person who committed the criminal conduct traveled in interstate or foreign commerce, or used any facility of interstate or foreign commerce, with intent to commit the crime; or (D) the property damaged or destroyed by the criminal conduct is used in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce. (c) Liability for standing down during riots A person with the lawful authority to direct a law enforcement agency who uses that authority to prohibit law enforcement officers from taking law enforcement action that would prevent or materially mitigate significant physical injury or death or damage or destruction of property caused by or related to a riot for any reason other than to prevent imminent harm to the safety of law enforcement officers shall be liable to any person who subsequently suffers significant physical injury or death or whose property is subsequently destroyed or damaged as the result of a third-party’s criminal conduct, if— (1) the person injured traveled in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent to enter the law enforcement free zone; (2) the injury was caused by an act that is a violation of a Federal criminal law; (3) the person who caused the injury traveled in interstate or foreign commerce, or used any facility of interstate or foreign commerce, with intent to commit the criminal conduct; or (4) the property damaged or destroyed is used in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce. 5. Eligibility for law enforcement grants and emergency and disaster funding (a) Byrne grant program Section 501 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10152 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (h) Protection of individuals and property (1) Definitions In this subsection— (A) the term law enforcement free zone has the meaning given the term in section 1979(b) of the Revised Statutes ( 42 U.S.C. 1983(b) ); and (B) the term riot has the meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 18, United States Code. (2) Required protection of individuals and property Beginning in the first fiscal year after the date of enactment of the RECLAIM Act , a State or unit of local government that receives a grant under this part shall take all reasonable steps to protect individuals from physical injury and property from depredation caused by unlawful acts within the jurisdiction of the State or unit of local government, as the case may be. (3) Failure to protect described For purposes of paragraph (2), a State or unit of local government shall be considered to have failed to take all reasonable steps to protect individuals from physical injury and property from depredation only if— (A) a senior official, governing body, or policy from the State or unit of local government prohibits, or prohibited during the relevant fiscal year, law enforcement officers from taking law enforcement action that would prevent or materially mitigate physical injury or property depredation caused by or related to a riot for any reason other than to prevent imminent harm to the safety of law enforcement officers; (B) a senior official, governing body, or policy from the State or unit of local government established or recognized during the relevant fiscal year, whether formally or informally, a law enforcement free zone for any reason other than to prevent imminent harm to the safety of law enforcement officers; (C) the State or unit of local government has a custom or policy not to prosecute an individual who engages in unlawful activity as part of a riot; or (D) the State or unit of local government declines to prosecute an individual who engages in unlawful activity as part of a riot because the unlawful activity is related to or associated with expression of speech protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. (4) Penalty for noncompliance If the Attorney General determines that a State or unit of local government has failed to comply with this subsection, the Attorney General may reduce the amount of the award for the State or unit of local government under this part for the fiscal year following the determination by, the greater of— (A) 25 percent; or (B) an amount equal to twice the monetary value of the property damaged and the personal injury caused by the failure of the State or unit of local government to take reasonable steps to protect against the damage and injury. . (b) COPS grant program Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10381 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (n) Protection of individuals and property (1) Definitions In this subsection— (A) the term law enforcement free zone has the meaning given the term in section 1979(b) of the Revised Statutes ( 42 U.S.C. 1983(b) ); and (B) the term riot has the meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 18, United States Code. (2) Required protection of individuals and property Beginning in the first fiscal year after the date of enactment of the RECLAIM Act , a State or unit of local government that receives a grant under this section shall take all reasonable steps to protect individuals from physical injury and property from depredation caused by unlawful acts within the jurisdiction of the State or unit of local government, as the case may be. (3) Failure to protect described For purposes of paragraph (2), a State or unit of local government shall be considered to have failed to take all reasonable steps to protect individuals from physical injury and property from depredation only if— (A) a senior official, governing body, or policy from the State or unit of local government prohibits, or prohibited during the relevant fiscal year, law enforcement officers from taking law enforcement action that would prevent or materially mitigate physical injury or property depredation caused by or related to a riot for any reason other than to prevent imminent harm to the safety of law enforcement officers; (B) a senior official, governing body, or policy from the State or unit of local government established or recognized during the relevant fiscal year, whether formally or informally, a law enforcement free zone for any reason other than to prevent imminent harm to the safety of law enforcement officers; (C) the State or unit of local government has a custom or policy not to prosecute an individual who engages in unlawful activity as part of a riot; or (D) the State or unit of local government declines to prosecute an individual who engages in unlawful activity as part of a riot because the unlawful activity is related to or associated with expression of speech protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. (4) Penalty for noncompliance If the Attorney General determines that a State or unit of local government has failed to comply with this subsection, the Attorney General may reduce the amount of the award for the State or unit of local government under this section for the fiscal year following the determination by, the greater of— (A) 25 percent; or (B) an amount equal to twice the monetary value of the property damaged and the personal injury caused by the failure of the State or unit of local government to take reasonable steps to protect against the damage and injury. . (c) Emergency assistance Title VII of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 707. Limitation on funding eligibility (a) Definitions In this section— (1) the term law enforcement free zone has the meaning given the term in section 1979(b) of the Revised Statutes ( 42 U.S.C. 1983(b) ); and (2) the term riot has the meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 18, United States Code. (b) Required protection of individuals and property A State or unit of local government shall not be eligible for any major disaster assistance under title IV or emergency assistance under title V under a major disaster or emergency declaration, respectively, relating to a riot or other civil unrest within the jurisdiction unless the State or unit of local government takes all reasonable steps to protect individuals from physical injury and property from depredation caused by unlawful acts occurring as part of the riot or unrest within the jurisdiction of the State or unit of local government, as the case may be. (c) Failure To protect described For purposes of subsection (b), a State or unit of local government shall be considered to have failed to take all reasonable steps to protect individuals from physical injury and property from depredation only if— (1) a senior official, governing body, or policy from the State or unit of local government prohibits law enforcement officers from taking law enforcement action that would prevent or materially mitigate physical injury or property depredation caused by or related to a riot for any reason other than to prevent imminent harm to the safety of law enforcement officers; (2) a senior official, governing body, or policy from the State or unit of local government established or recognized, whether formally or informally, a law enforcement free zone for any reason other than to prevent imminent harm to the safety of law enforcement officers; (3) the State or unit of local government has a custom or policy not to prosecute an individual who engages in unlawful activity as part of a riot; or (4) the State or unit of local government declines to prosecute an individual who engages in unlawful activity as part of a riot because the unlawful activity is related to or associated with expression of speech protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. (d) Rule of construction Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the eligibility of an individual or private entity to receive major disaster assistance under title IV or emergency assistance under title V. .