110 HR 923 EH: Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights
U.S. House of Representatives
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Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights
Crime Act of 2007
.
2.It is the sense of
Congress that all authorities with jurisdiction, including the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and other entities within the Department of Justice,
should—
(1)expeditiously
investigate unsolved civil rights murders, due to the amount of time that has
passed since the murders and the age of potential witnesses; and
(2)provide all the
resources necessary to ensure timely and thorough investigations in the cases
involved.
3.Deputy Chief of
the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division
(a)The Attorney General shall designate a Deputy Chief in
the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of
Justice.
(b)
(1)The Deputy Chief shall be responsible for coordinating
the investigation and prosecution of violations of criminal civil rights
statutes that occurred not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a
death.
(2)In
investigating a complaint under paragraph (1), the Deputy Chief may coordinate
investigative activities with State and local law enforcement officials.
(c)
(1)The
Attorney General shall annually conduct a study of the cases under the
jurisdiction of the Deputy Chief or under the jurisdiction of the Supervisory
Special Agent and, in conducting the study, shall determine—
(A)the number of open
investigations within the Department for violations of criminal civil rights
statutes that occurred not later than December 31, 1969;
(B)the number of new
cases opened pursuant to this Act since the previous year’s study;
(C)the number of
unsealed Federal cases charged within the study period, including the case
names, the jurisdiction in which the charges were brought, and the date the
charges were filed;
(D)the number of
cases referred by the Department to a State or local law enforcement agency or
prosecutor within the study period, the number of such cases that resulted in
State charges being filed, the jurisdiction in which such charges were filed,
the date the charges were filed, and if a jurisdiction declines to prosecute or
participate in an investigation of a case so referred, the fact it did
so;
(E)the number of
cases within the study period that were closed without Federal prosecution, the
case names of unsealed Federal cases, the dates the cases were closed, and the
relevant federal statutes;
(F)the number of
attorneys who worked, in whole or in part, on any case described in subsection
(b)(1); and
(G)the applications
submitted for grants under section 5, the award of such grants, and the
purposes for which the grant amount were expended.
(2)Not
later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and each year
thereafter, the Attorney General shall prepare and submit to Congress a report
containing the results of the study conducted under paragraph (1).
4.Supervisory
Special Agent in the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation
(a)The Attorney General shall designate a Supervisory
Special Agent in the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
of the Department of Justice.
(b)
(1)The Supervisory Special Agent shall be responsible for
investigating violations of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred not
later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a death.
(2)In
investigating a complaint under paragraph (1), the Supervisory Special Agent
may coordinate the investigative activities with State and local law
enforcement officials.
5.Grants to State
and local law enforcement
(a)The Attorney General may award grants to State or local
law enforcement agencies for expenses associated with the investigation and
prosecution by them of criminal offenses, involving civil rights, that occurred
not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a death.
(b)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000
for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2017 to carry out this
section.
6.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)There are authorized
to be appropriated, in addition to any other amounts otherwise authorized to be
appropriated for this purpose, to the Attorney General $10,000,000 for each of
the fiscal years 2008 through 2017 for the purpose of investigating and
prosecuting violations of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred not
later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a death. These funds shall be
allocated by the Attorney General to the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Section
of the Civil Rights Division and the Supervisory Special Agent of the Civil
Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in order to advance the
purposes set forth in this Act.
(b)Community
Relations Service of the Department of JusticeIn addition to any amounts authorized to be
appropriated under title XI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000h et seq.), there are authorized to be
appropriated to the Community Relations Service of the Department of Justice
$1,500,000 for fiscal year 2008 and each subsequent fiscal year, to enable the
Service (in carrying out the functions described in title X of such Act (42
U.S.C. 2000g et seq.)) to provide technical assistance by bringing together law
enforcement agencies and communities in the investigation of violations of
criminal civil rights statutes, in cases described in section 4(b).
7.Definition of
criminal civil rights statutes
In this Act, the term criminal civil
rights statutes means—
(1)section 241 of
title 18, United States Code (relating to conspiracy against rights);
(2)section 242 of
title 18, United States Code (relating to deprivation of rights under color of
law);
(3)section 245 of
title 18, United States Code (relating to federally protected
activities);
(4)sections 1581 and
1584 of title 18, United States Code (relating to involuntary servitude and
peonage);
(5)section 901 of the
Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3631);
and
(6)any other Federal
law that—
(A)was in effect on or
before December 31, 1969; and
(B)the Criminal
Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice enforced,
before the date of enactment of this Act.
8.Sections 2 through 6 of this Act shall cease
to have effect at the end of fiscal year 2017.
9.Authority of
Inspectors GeneralTitle
XXXVII of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5779 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
3703.Authority of
Inspectors General
(a)An Inspector General
appointed under section 3 or 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.
App.) may authorize staff to assist the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children—
(1)by conducting
reviews of inactive case files to develop recommendations for further
investigations; and
(2)by engaging in
similar activities.
(b)
(1)An
Inspector General may not permit staff to engage in activities described in
subsection (a) if such activities will interfere with the duties of the
Inspector General under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.
App.).
(2)No
additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
section.
.
Passed the House of
Representatives June 20, 2007.
Lorraine C. Miller,
Clerk.