1.This Act may be cited as
the Justice Integrity Act of
2008
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)the pursuit of
justice requires the fair application of the law;
(2)racial and ethnic
disparities in the criminal process have contributed to a growing perception of
bias in the criminal justice system;
(3)there are a
variety of possible causes of disparities in criminal justice statistics among
racial and ethnic groups and these causes may differ throughout the United
States, including factors such as—
(A)varying levels of
criminal activity among racial and ethnic groups and legitimate law enforcement
response to that criminal activity; and
(B)racial
discrimination, ethnic and cultural insensitivity, or unconscious bias;
(4)the Nation would
benefit from an understanding of all factors causing a disparate impact on the
criminal justice system; and
(5)programs that
promote fairness will increase public confidence in the criminal justice
system, increase public safety, and further the pursuit of justice.
3.
(a)Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a pilot program in 10 United
States districts in order to promote fairness, and the perception of fairness,
in the Federal criminal justice system, and to determine whether legislation is
required.
(b)
(1)The Attorney General shall designate, in accordance
with paragraph (3), 10 United States Attorneys who shall each implement a plan
in accordance with section 4, beginning not later than 1 month after those
United States Attorneys are designated by the Attorney General.
(2)The
purposes of the plans required by this section are—
(A)to gather racial
and ethnic data on investigations and prosecutions in the United States
districts and the causes of disparities, if any;
(B)to determine the
extent to which the communities’ perception of bias has affected confidence in
the Federal criminal justice system;
(C)to analyze
whether measures may be taken to reduce unwarranted disparities, if any, and
increase confidence in the criminal justice system; and
(D)to make
recommendations, to the extent possible, to ensure that law enforcement
priorities and initiatives, charging and plea bargaining decisions, sentencing
recommendations, and other steps within the criminal process are not influenced
by racial and ethnic stereotyping or bias, and do not produce unwarranted
disparities from otherwise neutral laws or policies.
(3)
(A)The 10 pilot districts referred to in subsection (a)
shall include districts of varying compositions with respect to size, case
load, geography, and racial and ethnic composition.
(B)At least 3 of the United States Attorneys designated by the
Attorney General shall be in Federal districts encompassing metropolitan
areas.
4.
(a)
(1)Each United States Attorney shall, in consultation with
an advisory group appointed in accordance with paragraph (2), develop and
implement a plan in accordance with subsections (b) and (c).
(2)
(A)Not
later than 90 days after designation by the Attorney General, the United States
Attorney in each of the 10 pilot districts selected pursuant to section 3 shall
appoint an advisory group, after consultation with the chief judge of the
district and criminal justice professionals within the district.
(B)The
advisory group of a United States Attorney shall include—
(i)1
or more senior social scientists with expertise in research methods or
statistics; and
(ii)individuals and
entities who play important roles in the criminal justice process and have
broad-based community representation such as—
(I)Federal and State
prosecutors;
(II)Federal and
State defenders, if applicable in the district, and private defense
counsel;
(III)Federal and
State judges;
(IV)Federal and
State law enforcement officials and union representatives;
(V)parole and
probation officers;
(VI)correctional
officers;
(VII)victim’s rights
representatives;
(VIII)civil rights
organizations;
(IX)business and
professional representatives; and
(X)faith-based
organizations who do criminal justice work.
(C)Subject to subparagraph (D), a member of the advisory group
shall not serve longer than 5 years.
(D)Notwithstanding subparagraph (C), the following shall be
permanent members of the advisory group for that district:
(i)The
chief judge for the judicial district.
(ii)The Federal
defender for the judicial district.
(iii)The United
States Attorney for the judicial district.
(E)The
United States Attorney may designate a reporter for each advisory group, who
may be compensated in accordance with guidelines established by the Executive
Office of the United States Attorneys.
(F)The members of an advisory group of a United States
Attorney and any person designated as a reporter for such group—
(i)shall be
considered independent contractors of the United States Attorney’s Office when
in the performance of official duties of the advisory group; and
(ii)may not, solely
by reason of service on or for the advisory group, be prohibited from
practicing law before any court.
(b)Development and
implementation of a plan and report
(1)The advisory group appointed under subsection (a)(2)
shall—
(A)(i)systematically collect
and analyze quantitative data on the race and ethnicity of the defendant and
victim at each stage of prosecution, including case intake, bail requests,
declinations, selection of charges, diversion from prosecution or
incarceration, plea offers, sentencing recommendations, fast-track sentencing,
and use of alternative sanctions; and
(ii)at a minimum, collect aggregate
data capable of individualization and tracking through the system so that any
cumulative racial or ethnic disadvantage can be analyzed;
(B)seek to determine
the causes of racial and ethnic disparities in a district, and whether these
disparities are substantially explained by sound law enforcement policies or if
they are at least partially attributable to discrimination, insensitivity, or
unconscious bias;
(C)examine the
extent to which racial and ethnic disparities are attributable to—
(i)law
enforcement priorities, prosecutorial priorities, the substantive provisions of
legislation enacted by Congress; or
(ii)the penalty
schemes enacted by Congress or implemented by the United States Sentencing
Commission;
(D)examine data
including—
(i)the
racial and ethnic demographics of the United States Attorney’s district;
(ii)defendants
charged in all categories of offense by race and ethnicity, and, where
applicable, the race and ethnicity of any identified victim;
(iii)substantial
assistance motions, whether at sentencing or post-conviction, by race and
ethnicity;
(iv)charging
policies, including decisions as to who should be charged in Federal rather
than State court when either forum is available, and whether these policies
tend to result in racial or ethnic disparities among defendants charged in
Federal court, including whether relative disparities exist between State and
Federal defendants charged with similar offenses;
(v)the
racial and ethnic composition of the Federal prosecutors in the district;
and
(vi)the extent to
which training in the exercise of discretion, including cultural competency, is
provided prosecutors;
(E)consult with an
educational or independent research group, if necessary, to conduct work under
this subsection; and
(F)submit to the
United States Attorney by the end of the second year after their initial
appointment a report and proposed plan, which shall be made available to the
public and which shall include—
(i)factual findings
and conclusions on racial and ethnic disparities, if any, and the State of
public confidence in the criminal process;
(ii)recommended
measures, rules, and programs for reducing unjustified disparities, if any, and
increasing public confidence; and
(iii)an explanation
of the manner in which the recommended plan complies with this
paragraph.
(2)Not later than 60 days after receiving and considering the
advisory group’s report and proposed plan under paragraph (1), the United
States Attorney appointed under section 3 shall adopt and implement a
plan.
(3)The United States Attorney shall transmit a copy of the
plan and report adopted and implemented, in accordance with this subsection,
together with the report and plan recommended by the advisory group, to the
Attorney General. The United States Attorney shall include with the plan an
explanation of any recommendation of the advisory group that is not included in
the plan.
(4)The
Attorney General shall transmit to the United States Attorney’s in every
Federal district and to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the
House of Representatives copies of any plan and accompanying report submitted
by a pilot district.
(c)Periodic United
States attorney assessmentAfter adopting and implementing a plan
under subsection (b), each United States Attorney in a pilot district shall
annually evaluate the efficacy of the plan. In performing such assessment, the
United States Attorney shall consult with the advisory group appointed in
accordance with subsection (a)(2). Each assessment shall be submitted to the
Executive Office for United States Attorneys for review in accordance with
subsection (d).
(d)Information on
the pilot program
(1)Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Attorney General shall—
(A)prepare a
comprehensive report on all plans received pursuant to this section;
(B)based on all the
plans received pursuant to this section the Attorney General shall also develop
one or more model plans; and
(C)transmit copies
of the report and model plan or plans to the Committees on the Judiciary of the
Senate and the House of Representatives.
(2)The Attorney General shall, on a continuing
basis—
(A)study ways to
reduce unwarranted racial and ethnic disparate impact in the Federal criminal
system; and
(B)make
recommendations to all United States Attorneys on ways to improve the
system.
5.Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for use, at the discretion of the
Attorney General, by the United States Attorneys’ advisory groups in the
development and implementation of plans under this Act.