[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2286 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2286
To establish a Science Advisory Board at the Department of Justice, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 25, 2019
Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal, and
Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a Science Advisory Board at the Department of Justice, 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 ``Improving Justice Programs through
Science Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD.
(a) Amendment.--Part A of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``SEC. 110. SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD.
``(a) Establishment.--There is established within the Office a
Science Advisory Board (in this section referred to as the `Board')--
``(1) which shall be composed of 26 senior representatives
of academic institutions, including primary and secondary
educational institutions, institutions of higher education,
advanced technology education, and other related entities, and
criminal justice and juvenile justice professionals, appointed
in accordance with subsection (c); and
``(2) the purpose of which shall be to--
``(A) foster sustained dialogue between the
academic and criminal and juvenile justice communities
on research-based policies; and
``(B) advise the Attorney General with respect to--
``(i) relevant developments in criminal and
juvenile justice research;
``(ii) the implications of developments
described in clause (i) for Federal, State, and
local criminal and juvenile justice agencies;
and
``(iii) any other matters as requested by
the Attorney General.
``(b) Charter.--There shall be a charter to govern the structure
and mission of the Board, which shall--
``(1) direct the Board to focus on the departmental
application of science and evidence under the guidance of the
Attorney General; and
``(2) be reviewed and updated every 4 years, as
appropriate.
``(c) Members.--
``(1) Appointment.--The 26 members of the Board shall--
``(A) be appointed by the Attorney General, in
consultation with the Assistant Attorney General of the
Office and considering recommendations from--
``(i) the Director of the National
Institute of Justice;
``(ii) the Director Bureau of Justice
Statistics;
``(iii) the Director of the Office for
Victims of Crime;
``(iv) the Director of the Office of Sex
Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, and Tracking;
and
``(v) the Director of the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention;
``(B) include senior representatives with a balance
of backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints that will
include the expertise of scientific, criminal justice,
and juvenile justice professionals;
``(C) include not fewer than 8 researchers in the
field of statistics, evaluation, social sciences, or
physical and biological sciences, which may include
those researchers recommended by the National Academy
of Sciences;
``(D) be selected to achieve a balance of
backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints that will
include the expertise of scientific, criminal justice,
and juvenile justice practitioners; and
``(E) include not less than three-fifths of the
members who hold terminal degrees in their field, have
published researcher, and are leading research in
areas, including--
``(i) criminology;
``(ii) criminal justice;
``(iii) juvenile justice;
``(iv) tribal justice;
``(v) statistics;
``(vi) economics;
``(vii) sociology;
``(viii) psychology;
``(ix) political science; and
``(x) other relevant sciences.
``(2) Terms.--The term of each member appointed under
paragraph (1) shall be 4 years.
``(3) Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the membership of the
Board shall--
``(A) not affect the powers of the board;
``(B) be filled in the same manner as the original
appointment; and
``(C) be only for the remainder of the term of the
original appointment.
``(4) Chairperson.--The Attorney General, with the advice
and recommendation of the Assistant Attorney General, shall
appoint 1 member of the Science Advisory Board to serve as the
Chairperson of the Board.
``(d) Meetings.--The Board shall--
``(1) meet on a regular basis to discuss science, research,
and ongoing criminal and juvenile justice departmental
activities, including coordination with other Federal, State,
local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners; and
``(2) make recommendations to the Assistant Attorney
General;
``(3) provide advice and recommendations concerning support
for research, statistics, and grant programs of the Office;
``(4) serve as a point of contact with the academic and
practitioner communities to inform the Office of the impact of
the research, statistics, and grant programs of the Office on
both the academic community and the criminal and juvenile
justice fields;
``(5) offer broad input into long-range plans and
partnership opportunities;
``(6) serve as a forum for consideration of proposed
interdisciplinary projects across the sciences; and
``(7) advise on policy development, program implementation
and evaluation, and identify research needs and opportunities.
``(e) Support.--The Attorney General shall ensure that the Board
complies with the requirements under--
``(1) the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.);
``(2) section 552b of title 5 (commonly known as the
`Government in the Sunshine Act'); and
``(3) any--
``(A) governing Federal statute or regulation; or
``(B) relevant policy or procedure of the
Department of Justice.''.
(b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report on the status and
activities of the Science Advisory Board established under section 110
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968,
as added by subsection (a) of this Act.
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