[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3908 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3908

 To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
   1968 to provide for improvements under the Edward Byrne Memorial 
     Justice Assistance Grant Program to reduce racial and ethnic 
              disparities in the criminal justice system.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 16, 2014

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

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                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
   1968 to provide for improvements under the Edward Byrne Memorial 
     Justice Assistance Grant Program to reduce racial and ethnic 
              disparities in the criminal justice system.

    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 ``Byrne/JAG Program Accountability 
Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS UNDER THE EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 
              GRANT PROGRAM TO REDUCE RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN 
              THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

    Section 501 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3751) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(h) Racial Disparities Practices.--For years beginning after the 
date of the enactment of the Byrne/JAG Program Accountability Act, 
States and units of local government receiving funds under this subpart 
shall implement policy, practice, and system improvement strategies at 
the State, local, and tribal levels, as applicable, to identify and 
reduce racial and ethnic disparities among individuals who come into 
contact with or are under the supervision of the criminal justice 
system, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or 
quotas, through each of the following methods:
            ``(1) Establishing coordinating bodies, composed of 
        criminal justice stakeholders at the State, local, or tribal 
        levels, as applicable, to oversee and monitor efforts by such 
        States, unit of local government, or Indian tribe to reduce 
        racial and ethnic disparities.
            ``(2) Identifying and analyzing key decision points in the 
        criminal justice system of the State, unit of local government, 
        or Indian tribe, as applicable, to determine which points 
        create racial and ethnic disparities among those who come into 
        contact with the justice system.
            ``(3) Developing and implementing data collection and 
        analysis systems to identify where racial and ethnic 
        disparities exist in the criminal justice system and to track 
        and analyze such disparities.
            ``(4) Developing and implementing a work plan that includes 
        measurable objectives for policy practice or other system 
        changes, based on the needs identified in the data collection 
        and analysis under paragraphs (2) and (3).
            ``(5) Publicly reporting, on an annual basis, the efforts 
        made in accordance with paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) during the 
        previous year.''.
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