[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6400 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6400

  To require the release of certain individuals in the custody of the 
   United States because of their risk of exposure during a national 
                   emergency, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 26, 2020

  Mr. Jeffries (for himself, Ms. Bass, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Richmond, Mrs. 
 Watson Coleman, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Norton, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, 
Mr. Garcia of Illinois, and Mr. Ted Lieu of California) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the release of certain individuals in the custody of the 
   United States because of their risk of exposure during a national 
                   emergency, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Emergency Community Supervision 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) As of the date of introduction of this Act, the novel 
        coronavirus has spread to all 50 States, the District of 
        Columbia, and 3 territories.
            (2) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have 
        projected that between 160,000,000 and 214,000,000 people could 
        be infected by the novel coronavirus in the United States over 
        the course of the pandemic.
            (3) Although the United States has less than 5 percent of 
        the world's population, the United States holds approximately 
        21 percent of the world's prisoners and leads the world in the 
        number of individuals incarcerated, with nearly 2,200,000 
        people incarcerated in State and Federal prisons and local 
        jails.
            (4) Studies have shown that individuals age out of crime 
        starting around 25 years of age, and released individuals over 
        the age of 50 have a very low recidivism rate.
            (5) According to public health experts, incarcerated 
        individuals are particularly vulnerable to being gravely 
        impacted by the novel corona virus pandemic because--
                    (A) they have higher rates of underlying health 
                issues than members of the general public, including 
                higher rates of respiratory disease, heart disease, 
                diabetes, obesity, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, 
                hepatitis, and other conditions that suppress immune 
                response; and
                    (B) the close conditions and lack of access to 
                hygiene products in prisons make these institutions 
                unusually susceptible to viral pandemics.
            (6) The spread of communicable viral disease in the United 
        States generally constitutes a serious, heightened threat to 
        the safety of incarcerated individuals, and there is a serious 
        threat to the general public that prisons may become incubators 
        of community spread of communicable viral disease.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Covered health condition.--The term ``covered health 
        condition'' with respect to an individual, means the 
        individual--
                    (A) is pregnant;
                    (B) has chronic lung disease or asthma;
                    (C) has congestive heart failure or coronary artery 
                disease;
                    (D) has diabetes;
                    (E) has a neurological condition that weakens the 
                ability to cough;
                    (F) has HIV;
                    (G) has sickle cell anemia;
                    (H) has cancer; or
                    (I) has a weakened immune system.
            (2) Covered individual.--The term ``covered individual'' 
        means an individual who--
                    (A) is 50 years of age or older;
                    (B) has a covered health condition; or
                    (C) is within 12 months of release from 
                incarceration.
            (3) National emergency relation to a communicable 
        disease.--The term ``national emergency relating to a 
        communicable disease'' means--
                    (A) an emergency involving Federal primary 
                responsibility determined to exist by the President 
                under the section 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford 
                Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
                5191(b)) with respect to a communicable disease; or
                    (B) a national emergency declared by the President 
                under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 
                seq.) with respect to a communicable disease.

SEC. 4. PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS IN COMMUNITY SUPERVISION.

    (a) Authority.--Except as provided in subsection (b), beginning on 
the date on which a national emergency relating to a communicable 
disease is declared and ending on the date that is 60 days after such 
national emergency expires--
            (1) the Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall place in 
        community supervision all covered individuals who are in the 
        custody of the Bureau of Prisons; and
            (2) the Director of the United States Marshals Service 
        shall place in community supervision all covered individuals 
        who are in the custody of the United States Marshals Service.
    (b) Exception.--In carrying out subsection (a), each Director--
            (1) may not place in community supervision any individual 
        determined, by clear and convincing evidence, to be likely to 
        pose a specific and substantial risk of causing bodily injury 
        or using violent force against the person of another;
            (2) shall place in the file of each individual described in 
        paragraph (1) documentation of such determination, including 
        the evidence used to make the determination; and
            (3) not later than 180 days after the date on which the 
        national emergency relating to a communicable disease expires, 
        shall provide a report to Congress documenting--
                    (A) the demographic data (including race, gender, 
                age, offense of conviction, and criminal history level) 
                of the individuals denied placement in community 
                supervision under paragraph (1); and
                    (B) the justification for the denials described in 
                subparagraph (A).
    (c) Limitation on Community Supervision Placement.--In placing 
covered individuals into community supervision under this section, the 
Director of the Bureau of Prisons and the Director of the United States 
Marshals Service shall take into account and prioritize placements that 
enable adequate social distancing, which include home confinement or 
other forms of low in-person-contact supervised release.

SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON PRE-TRIAL DETENTION.

    Notwithstanding section 3142 of title 18, United States Code, 
beginning on the date on which a national emergency relating to a 
communicable disease is declared and ending on the date that is 60 days 
after such national emergency expires, the Government may not seek to 
detain, and a judicial officer (as defined in section 3156 of title 18, 
United States Code) may not order the detainment of, any individual, 
unless the Government shows by clear and convincing evidence that the 
individual is likely to pose a flight risk or specific and substantial 
risk of causing bodily injury or using violent force against the person 
of another.

SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON SUPERVISED RELEASE.

    Beginning on the date on which a national emergency relating to a 
communicable disease is declared and ending on the date that is 60 days 
after such national emergency expires, the Office of Probation and 
Pretrial Services of the Administrative Office of the United States 
Courts shall take measures to prevent the spread of the communicable 
viral disease among individuals under supervision by--
            (1) suspending the requirement that individuals determined 
        to be a lower risk of reoffending report in person to their 
        probation or parole officer;
            (2) identifying individuals who have successfully completed 
        not less than 18 months of supervision and transferring such 
        individuals to administrative supervision or terminating 
        supervision, as appropriate; and
            (3) suspending the use of incarceration as a sanction for 
        violations of probation or parole that do not constitute a new 
        felony offense.

SEC. 7. PROHIBITION.

    No individual who is granted placement in community supervision, 
termination of supervision, placement on administrative supervision, or 
pre-trial release shall be re-incarcerated, placed on supervision or 
active supervision, or ordered detained pre-trial only as a result of 
the expiration of the national emergency relating to a communicable 
disease.
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