[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1446 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 1446

 To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to promote equity 
     and fairness in lawsuits brought against State and local law 
                         enforcement officers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 6, 1995

 Mr. Moorhead introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to promote equity 
     and fairness in lawsuits brought against State and local law 
                         enforcement officers.

    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 ``Law Enforcement Officers Civil 
Liability Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. LAWSUITS BROUGHT AGAINST STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 
              OFFICERS.

    (a) In General.--Title XXIV of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States (42 U.S.C. 1981 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``Sec. 1992. (a) In any civil action under Federal law against a 
law enforcement officer for conduct in the course of official duty, 
punitive damages shall not be awarded against that officer except to 
punish or deter conduct--
            ``(1) specifically intended unlawfully to cause serious 
        personal injury; or
            ``(2) engaged in with flagrant indifference to the rights 
        of the injured party and with an awareness that such conduct is 
        likely to result in serious personal injury and is unlawful;
and shall not, if awarded, exceed $10,000. Such punitive damages may 
not be awarded except on clear and convincing evidence of conduct 
described in paragraph (1) or (2). The indemnification of any such 
officer, by any person or entity, for any punitive damages paid by that 
officer subject to this section shall not in itself create any 
liability of that person or entity in any civil action.
    ``(b) In any civil action arising out of the conduct of a law 
enforcement officer in the course of official duty, in which--
            ``(1) there is a monetary recovery; and
            ``(2) attorney's fees may be awarded under section 722 (42 
        U.S.C. 1988);
the amount of attorney's fees so awarded shall not exceed one third of 
such monetary recovery.
    ``(c) As used in this section--
            ``(1) the term `law enforcement officer' means--
                    ``(A) any peace officer;
                    ``(B) a prison or jail guard; or
                    ``(C) any corrections officer;
        of a State or of any subdivision of a State;
            ``(2) the term `State' includes the District of Columbia, 
        Puerto Rico, and each other territory and possession of the 
        United States; and
            ``(3) the term `official duty' includes conduct by an off-
        duty law enforcement officer in circumstances indicating a law 
        enforcement response.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
title XXIV of the Revised Statutes of the United States is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``1992. Lawsuits brought against State and local law enforcement 
                            officers.''.
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