[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4017 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4017

      To amend title 28, United States Code, to prevent racially 
                   discriminatory capital sentencing.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 1994

  Mr. Edwards of California introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To amend title 28, United States Code, to prevent racially 
                   discriminatory capital sentencing.

    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 ``Racial Justice Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 28.

    (a) Procedure.--Part VI of title 28, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end thereof the following new chapter:

       ``CHAPTER 177--RACIALLY DISCRIMINATORY CAPITAL SENTENCING

``Sec.
``2921. Prohibition against the execution of a sentence of death 
                            imposed on the basis of race.
``2922. Access to data on death eligible cases.
``2923. Enforcement of the chapter.
``2924. Construction of chapter.
``Sec. 2921. Prohibition against the execution of a sentence of death 
              imposed on the basis of race
    ``(a) In General.--No person shall be put to death under color of 
State or Federal law in the execution of a sentence that was imposed 
based on race.
    ``(b) Inference of Race as the Basis of Death Sentence.--An 
inference that race was the basis of a death sentence is established if 
valid evidence is presented demonstrating that, at the time the death 
sentence was imposed, race was a statistically significant factor in 
decisions to seek or to impose the sentence of death in the 
jurisdiction in question.
    ``(c) Relevant Evidence.--Evidence relevant to establish an 
inference that race was the basis of a death sentence may include 
evidence that death sentences were, at the time pertinent under 
subsection (b), being imposed significantly more frequently in the 
jurisdiction in question--
            ``(1) upon persons of one race than upon persons of another 
        race; or
            ``(2) as punishment for capital offenses against persons of 
        one race than as punishment for capital offenses against 
        persons of another race.
    ``(d) Validity of Evidence Presented To Establish an Inference.--If 
statistical evidence is presented to establish an inference that race 
was the basis of a sentence of death, the court shall determine the 
validity of the evidence and if it provides a basis for the inference. 
Such evidence must take into account, to the extent it is compiled and 
publicly made available, evidence of the statutory aggravating factors 
of the crimes involved, and shall include comparisons of similar cases 
involving persons of different races.
    ``(e) Rebuttal.--If an inference that race was the basis of a death 
sentence is established under subsection (b), the death sentence may 
not be carried out unless the government rebuts the inference by a 
preponderance of the evidence. Unless it can show that the death 
penalty was sought in all cases fitting the statutory criteria for 
imposition of the death penalty, the government cannot rely on mere 
assertions that it did not intend to discriminate or that the cases in 
which death was imposed fit the statutory criteria for imposition of 
the death penalty.
``Sec. 2922. Access to data on death eligible cases
    ``Data collected by public officials concerning factors relevant to 
the imposition of the death sentence shall be made publicly available.
``Sec. 2923. Enforcement of the chapter
    ``In any proceeding brought under section 2254, the evidence 
supporting a claim under this chapter may be presented in an 
evidentiary hearing and need not be set forth in the petition. 
Notwithstanding section 2254, no determination on the merits of a 
factual issue made by a State court pertinent to any claim under 
section 2921 shall be presumed to be correct unless--
            ``(1) the State is in compliance with section 2922;
            ``(2) the determination was made in a proceeding in a State 
        court in which the person asserting the claim was afforded 
        rights to the appointment of counsel and to the furnishing of 
        investigative, expert and other services necessary for the 
        adequate development of the claim; and
            ``(3) the determination is one which is otherwise entitled 
        to be presumed to be correct under the criteria specified in 
        section 2254.
``Sec. 2924. Construction of chapter
    ``Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to affect in 
one way or the other the lawfulness of any sentence of death that does 
not violate section 2921.''.
    (b) Amendment to Table of Chapters.--The table of chapters of part 
VI of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
thereof the following new item:

``177. Racially Discriminatory Capital Sentencing...........   2921.''.

SEC. 3. ACTIONS BEFORE ENACTMENT.

    No person shall be barred from raising any claim under section 2921 
of title 28, United States Code, as added by this Act, on the ground of 
having failed to raise or to prosecute the same or a similar claim 
before the enactment of the Act, nor by reason of any adjudication 
rendered before that enactment.

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