lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Labor and employment
Date: 2014-01-29 00:00:00

Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2014 - Declares it an unlawful practice for certain employers with at least 15 employees for each working day in each of at least 20 calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year to: (1) fail or refuse to consider for employment or to hire an individual as an employee based on present or past unemployment regardless of the length of time such individual was unemployed; (2) publish an advertisement or announcement for any job with provisions indicating that such an unemployed status disqualifies an individual and that an employer will not consider or hire an individual based on such status; and (3) direct or request that an employment agency account for such status when considering, screening, or referring applicants.

Prohibits an employment agency (including agents and persons maintaining a website publishing job advertisements or announcements), based on such an individual's status as unemployed, from: (1) failing or refusing to consider, screen, or refer an individual for employment; (2) limiting, segregating, or classifying individuals in any manner limiting access to job information; or (3) publishing an advertisement or announcement for any job vacancy that includes provisions indicating that such an individual is disqualified and that an employer will not consider or hire such individuals.

Prohibits similar employment practices by defined federal employing agencies covered under specified family and medical leave provisions for certain government employees.

Allows consideration of an individual's status as unemployed if an individual's employment in a similar or related job for a period of time reasonably proximate to the hiring of such individual is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to successful performance of the job being filled.

Authorizes, subject to possible termination upon the filing of certain complaints by the Secretary of Labor, one or more persons for and on behalf of the affected individual, or the affected individual and other individuals similarly situated, to bring actions in federal or state court for specified actual damages, punitive damages, and equitable relief, including employment.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve complaints according to specified provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; and (2) pay directly to each affected individual applicable sums recovered in any civil actions brought by the Secretary under this Act.

Requires, with respect to the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the Library of Congress (LOC), that the Secretary's authority be exercised respectively by the Public Printer and Librarian of Congress.

Sets forth a two-year statute of limitations period (three years for willful violations) for specified civil actions to be filed under this Act, except that the limitation period for filing an action by an individual is tolled during the period when the Secretary is considering a complaint against the defendant involved.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2014-04-08 00:00:00

Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014 - Directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to update a report for Congress concerning the role of telecommunications in the commission of hate crimes.

Requires such report to include: (1) an analysis of the use of telecommunications (including the Internet, broadcast television and radio, cable television, public access television, commercial mobile services, and other electronic media) to advocate and encourage violent acts and the commission of hate crimes as specified in the Hate Crime Statistics Act; (2) NTIA recommendations; and (3) updates concerning the role of telecommunications in crimes of hate and violent acts against ethnic, religious, and racial minorities.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-07-15 00:00:00

Preserving Religious Freedom and a Woman's Access to Contraception Act - Prohibits employers from restricting employees from purchasing any drug or medical device regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Repeals sections of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to: (1) allow health savings accounts, medical savings accounts, and health flexible spending accounts to be used to pay for non-prescription drugs; and (2) remove the annual limit for salary reduction contributions to a health flexible spending arrangement under a cafeteria plan.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2015-01-06 00:00:00

David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2015 or David's Law

 Amends the federal criminal code to impose penalties for willfully causing bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive device, attempting to cause such injury, whether or not acting under color of law, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of any person, where the offense is in or affects interstate or foreign commerce.

Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to study the issue of adult recruitment of juveniles to commit hate crimes and, if appropriate, to amend the federal sentencing guidelines to provide sentencing enhancements for such an offense.

Requires the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants to state and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.

Authorizes appropriations for the Department of the Treasury and DOJ for FY2015-FY2017 to increase the number of personnel to protect against criminal interference with federally-protected activities.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Housing and community development
Date: 2015-01-14 00:00:00

Veterans, Women, Families with Children, Race, and Persons with Disabilities Housing Fairness Act of 2015 or the Housing Fairness Act of 2015

Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to conduct a nationwide testing program to: (1) detect and document differences in the treatment of persons seeking to rent or purchase housing or obtain or refinance a home mortgage loan; (2) measure patterns of adverse treatment because of the race, color, religion, sex, familial status, disability status, or national origin of a renter, home buyer, or borrower; and (3) measure the prevalence of such discriminatory practices across housing and mortgage lending markets.

 Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 to require that only qualified private nonprofit fair housing enforcement organizations receive funds under the fair housing initiatives program for investigations of violations of the rights granted under the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

Requires the design of the national education and outreach program to provide for the development and dissemination of websites and other media outlets among its fair housing media products.

Requires private entities that formulate or carry out programs to prevent or eliminate discriminatory housing practices to be nonprofit in order to be eligible for contracts to establish or support education and outreach programs and to support community-based education and outreach activities.

Requires the Secretary to establish minimum standards for the training of testers of organizations funded with any amounts made available under this Act.

Directs the Secretary to implement a competitive matching grant program to assist public and private nonprofit organizations in: (1) conducting comprehensive studies of the causes and effects of housing discrimination and segregation on education, poverty, and economic development or on veterans and military personnel; and (2) implementing pilot projects that test solutions to help prevent or alleviate housing discrimination and segregation.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-01-22 00:00:00

Veterans and Servicemembers Employment Rights and Housing Act of 2015

Prohibits employment practices that discriminate based on an individual's military service and amends the Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 to prohibit housing discrimination against members of the uniformed services.

Declares that it shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail to hire, to discharge, or to otherwise discriminate against individuals because of their military service. Prohibits employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, and job training programs from engaging in specified practices that adversely affect an applicant or employee because of such service.

Exempts certain hiring and employment practices from being considered unlawful if the occupancy of the position is subject to national security requirements that an individual does not fulfill.

Permits an employer to apply different standards of compensation or terms of employement pursuant to a bona fide seniority or merit system, a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production or to employees who work in different locations, or a professionally developed ability test.

Declares that an unlawful employment practice based on disparate impact is established only if: (1) the complaining party demonstrates that a respondent uses a particular employment practice that causes a disparate impact on the basis of military service and the respondent fails to demonstrate that the challenged practice is job-related and consistent with business necessity, or (2) the complaining party makes a demonstration with respect to an alternative employment practice and the respondent refuses to adopt such practice.

Prohibits business necessity from being used as a defense against a claim of intentional discrimination.

Declares that an unlawful employment practice is established when the complaining party demonstrates that military service was a motivating factor for any employment practice, even though other factors also motivated such practice.

Grants enforcement powers, remedies, and procedures under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Attorney General, and persons alleging such discrimination.

Amends the Fair Housing Act to prohibit housing discrimination against a member of the uniformed services with respect to: (1) the sale or rental of housing, (2) residential real estate-related transactions, and (3) the provision of brokerage services.

Prohibits religious organizations engaging in housing transactions from giving preferences to persons of the same religion in cases where membership in such religion is restricted to persons who are not members of the uniformed services.

Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1968 to impose a fine, imprisonment, or both on persons who violate prohibitions on housing discrimination under such Act against members of the uniformed services.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Law
Date: 2015-01-22 00:00:00

Defense of Property Rights Act 

Prohibits federal or state agencies from taking private property in whole or in part (including by physical invasion, regulation, exaction, or condition) except for public purpose and with just compensation to the property owner.

Requires a property owner to receive just compensation if, as a consequence of an agency's decision, the property has been physically invaded or taken without the owner's consent in an action that:

 does not substantially advance the stated governmental interest; exacts the owner's lawful right to use the property, or a portion of the property, as a condition for an agency's action (including the granting of a permit, license, or variance) without a rough proportionality between the stated need for the property and the impact of the proposed use; deprives the owner, either temporarily or permanently, of substantially all economically beneficial or productive use of the property, or of a part of the property, without a showing that the deprivation of value inheres in the title; diminishes the property's fair market value by at least 20% or $20,000; or constitutes any other taking within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Includes an agency's decision that interferes with an owner's investment-backed expectations to water rights or to rents, issues, or profits of land (including minerals, timber, fodder, crops, oil and gas, coal, or geothermal energy) among the categories of actions that may require payment of just compensation.

Defines "just compensation" to include the property's fair market value, business losses, and compounded interest from the date of the taking until the agency's payment.

Allows adversely affected property owners to challenge agency actions in either a U.S. district court or the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (USCFC). Provides persons adversely affected by an agency action with standing to challenge or seek judicial review.

Amends the federal judicial code to allow the USCFC to: (1) render judgment upon a claim against an agency for monetary relief, (2) invalidate federal laws or regulations that violate Fifth Amendment property rights, (3) grant injunctive and declaratory relief, and (4) have concurrent jurisdiction with other courts.

Establishes a six-year statute of limitations for actions to be brought after a taking.

Requires courts to award litigation costs, attorney's fees, and expert witness fees to prevailing plaintiffs.

Allows takings disputes to be resolved through settlement or arbitration.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2015-01-27 00:00:00

Certainty in Enforcement Act of 2015

Amends equal employment opportunity requirements under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to deem an employer's, labor organization's, employment agency's, or joint labor management committee's consideration or use of credit or criminal records or information, as mandated by federal, state, or local law, to be job related and consistent with business necessity.

Declares that such use of credit or criminal records shall not be the basis of liability under any theory of disparate impact. (Currently, an unlawful employment practice based on disparate impact is established if a complaining party demonstrates that a respondent uses a particular employment practice that causes a disparate impact on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and the respondent fails to demonstrate that the challenged practice is job related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity.)
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Labor and employment
Date: 2015-01-27 00:00:00

Litigation Oversight Act of 2015

Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to approve or disapprove by majority vote whether the EEOC shall commence or intervene in litigation involving: (1) multiple plaintiffs, or (2) an allegation of systemic discrimination or a pattern or practice of discrimination. Provides EEOC members with the power to require the EEOC to approve or disapprove by majority vote whether the EEOC commences or intervenes in any litigation.

Requires the EEOC, within 30 days after commencing or intervening in litigation pursuant to such an approval, to post on its public website: (1) information regarding the case, including the allegations and causes of action; and (2) each Commissioner's vote on commencing or intervening in the litigation.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Labor and employment
Date: 2015-01-27 00:00:00

EEOC Transparency and Accountability Act

Directs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to provide information on its public website regarding each case brought in court by the EEOC after a judgment is made with respect to any cause of action.

Requires such information to include: (1) instances in which the EEOC was ordered to pay fees and costs; (2) cases in which a sanction was imposed on the EEOC; (3) the total number of charges of an alleged unlawful employment practice filed under specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; and (4) cases of systemic discrimination, including pattern or practice discrimination.

Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit the EEOC from bringing a suit unless it exhausts its obligation to engage in an informal conciliation and certifies that conciliation is at impasse.

Makes the determination as to whether the EEOC has engaged in a bona fide conciliation subject to judicial review.

Directs the EEOC Inspector General to notify Congress of any sanctions, fees, or costs imposed on the EEOC by a court. Requires the Inspector General to investigate such cases and the EEOC to report to Congress regarding the steps being taken to reduce such instances.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-02-13 00:00:00

English Language Unity Act of 2015

Establishes English as the official language of the United States.

Requires naturalization ceremonies and official functions of the U.S. government, subject to exceptions, to be conducted in English.

Declares that all citizens should be able to read and understand generally the English language text of U.S. laws.

Allows a person injured by a violation of this Act to obtain relief, including a declaratory judgment, in a civil action.

Declares that English language requirements and workplace policies, whether in the public or private sector, shall be presumptively consistent with U.S. laws. Requires any ambiguity in U.S. laws to be resolved in accordance with the rights retained by the people and the powers reserved to states under the Bill of Rights.

Directs the Department of Homeland Security to issue a proposed rule for uniform testing of the English language ability of candidates for naturalization based upon the principles that: (1) all citizens should be able to read and understand generally the English language text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the laws of the United States; and (2) any exceptions to this standard should be limited to extraordinary circumstances, such as asylum.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2015-02-27 00:00:00

American Civil Rights Cities Act

Requires the National Park Service to designate at least one city in the United States each year as an "American Civil Rights City" based on the city's: (1) contributions to protect civil rights by preventing discrimination; and (2) efforts to highlight the struggle of the United States to secure civil rights and liberties through preservation and celebration, including the establishment of historical organizations or museums and recognition of civil rights leaders.

Designates Greensboro, North Carolina, and Selma, Alabama, as the first cities to have that designation.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2015-03-24 00:00:00

Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal HIV Discrimination Act of 2015 or the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act of 2015

Expresses the sense of Congress that federal and state laws, policies, and regulations regarding people living with HIV/AIDS should: (1) not place unique or additional burdens on such individuals solely as a result of their HIV status; and (2) demonstrate a public health-oriented, evidence-based, medically accurate, and contemporary understanding of HIV transmission, health implications, treatment, and the impact of punitive HIV-specific laws, policies, regulations, and judicial precedents and decisions on public health and on affected people, families, and communities.

Directs: (1) the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Defense (DOD) to initiate a national review of federal (including military) and state laws, policies, regulations, and judicial precedents and decisions regarding criminal and related civil commitment cases involving people living with HIV/AIDS; and (2) DOJ to transmit to Congress and make publicly available the results of such review with related recommendations.

Requires DOJ and HHS to: (1) develop and publicly release guidance and best practice recommendations for states, and (2) establish an integrated monitoring and evaluation system to measure state progress.

Directs DOJ, HHS, and DOD to transmit to the President and Congress any proposals necessary to implement adjustments to federal laws, policies, or regulations.

Prohibits this Act from being construed to discourage the prosecution of individuals who intentionally transmit or attempt to transmit HIV to another individual.
Topic: Civil Rights — General
Subject: Labor and employment
Date: 2015-04-14 00:00:00

Fair Pay Act of 2015 

 Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discrimination in the payment of wages on account of sex, race, or national origin. (Allows payment of different wages under seniority systems, merit systems, systems that measure earnings by quantity or quality of production, or differentials based on bona fide factors that the employer demonstrates are job-related or further legitimate business interests.)

Prohibits the discharge of, or any other discrimination against, an individual for opposing any act or practice made unlawful by this Act, or for assisting in an investigation or proceeding under it. Directs courts, in any action brought under this Act for violation of such prohibition, to allow expert fees as part of the costs awarded to prevailing plaintiffs. Allows any such action to be maintained as a class action. Directs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to: (1) undertake studies and provide information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning effective means available to implement this Act; and (2) carry on a continuing program of research, education, and technical assistance with specified components related to the purposes of this Act. Makes conforming amendments relating to congressional and executive branch employees to the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 and the Presidential and Executive Office Accountability Act.