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House Bill 7506
116th Congress(2019-2020)
Justice for Victims of Lawless Cities Act of 2020
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in House on Jul 9, 2020
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Introduced in House 
Jul 9, 2020
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Introduced in House(Jul 9, 2020)
Jul 9, 2020
Not Scanned for Linkage
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Multiple bills can contain the same text. This could be an identical bill in the opposite chamber or a smaller bill with a section embedded in a larger bill.
Bill Sponsor regularly scans bill texts to find sections that are contained in other bill texts. When a matching section is found, the bills containing that section can be viewed by clicking "View Bills" within the bill text section.
Bill Sponsor is currently only finding exact word-for-word section matches. In a future release, partial matches will be included.
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H. R. 7506 (Introduced-in-House)


116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7506


To provide a civil remedy for individuals harmed in lawless jurisdictions, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 9, 2020

Mr. Budd (for himself and Mr. Roy) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide a civil remedy for individuals harmed in lawless jurisdictions, 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 “Justice for Victims of Lawless Cities Act of 2020”.

SEC. 2. Definition.

In this Act, the term “lawless jurisdiction” means a designated area in a State or political subdivision of a State, which State or political subdivision has a statute, ordinance, policy, or practice in effect that, despite ongoing danger to individuals or property, allows any entity or official of the State or political subdivision of the State to, in such designated area, purposefully—

(1) refuse to provide police, fire, or emergency medical services to 1 or more individuals in the State or political subdivision of the State; or

(2) abdicate the reserved powers of the State or political subdivision of the State, to be performed by non-governmental actors in a manner that is detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the State or political subdivision of the State.

SEC. 3. Civil action for harm in a lawless jurisdiction.

(a) Private right of action.—

(1) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any individual, or a spouse, parent, or child of such individual (if the individual is deceased or permanently incapacitated), who is the victim of a murder, rape, or any felony (as defined by the State) which occurred in a lawless jurisdiction may bring an action for compensatory damages against a State or a political subdivision of a State in the appropriate Federal or State court.

(2) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In an action under paragraph (1), the court shall find in favor of the plaintiff if the plaintiff shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the harm described in paragraph (1) occurred in a lawless jurisdiction located in the State or political subdivision of a State.

(3) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An action brought under this subsection may not be brought later than 10 years after the occurrence of the crime, or death of a person as a result of such crime, whichever occurs later.

(4) ATTORNEY’S FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In any action or proceeding under this subsection the court shall allow a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs, and include expert fees as part of the attorney’s fee.

(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—In the case of an entity that is harmed as a result of a felony (as defined by the State) which occurred in a lawless jurisdiction, the owner of the entity may bring an action under paragraph (1).

(b) Waiver of immunity.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Any State or political subdivision of a State that accepts a grant described in paragraph (2) from the Federal Government shall agree, as a condition of receiving such grant, to waive any immunity of such State or political subdivision relating to a civil action described in subsection (a).

(2) GRANTS DESCRIBED.—The grants described in this paragraph are—

(A) a grant for public works and economic development under section 201(a) of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141(a));

(B) a grant for planning and administrative expenses under section 203(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3143(a));

(C) a supplemental grant under section 205(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3145(b));

(D) a grant for training, research, and technical assistance under section 207(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3147(a)); and

(E) except as provided in paragraph (3), a community development block grant made pursuant to title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.).

(3) EXCEPTION.—Grants described in paragraph (2)(E) shall not include any disaster relief grants to address the damage in an area for which the President has declared a disaster under title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.).