Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013

I thank the ranking member of the subcommittee, and I thank the manager and, as well, the full committee chairperson and the ranking member of the full committee.

I think it would not be inappropriate to acknowledge that many of us gathered in the Judiciary Committee to wish Congressman Mel Watt well, so I will do so now on the floor of the House.

I am supporting this bill and again offer my appreciation for the Crime Subcommittee's bipartisan efforts to look into our problem with criminalization at the start of the Congress. I am concerned that there are a number of issues that were not discussed, but this particular legislation is an important step, which I know that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) has worked on quite extensively.

The bill before us today, in essence, requires States that receive certain criminal justice assistance grants to report to the Attorney General on a quarterly basis certain information regarding the death of any person who is detained, arrested, en route to incarceration, or incarcerated in State or local facilities or at boot camp. H.R. 1447 also imposes penalties on States that fail to comply with such reporting requirements. The bill also requires the head of each Federal law enforcement agency to report to the Attorney General annually certain information regarding the death of any person.

My focus is to indicate that this is a practical initiative. I personally know that in jurisdictions in Texas, we have had incidents where people have gone into the county jail for minimal violations of the law and came out in a body bag. It happened to a mother of two sons who lost her life because an infected knee was not taken care of. Or individuals who were ill, individuals who succumbed to inappropriate behavior by those who have charge over them. It is happening in jails and prisons across America.

This is a lifesaving initiative because many people will acknowledge that if you are incarcerated, even if you are there in our county jails before you are convicted--certainly, we recognize the criminal justice system, but it does not mean that you should lose your life.

However, as we come to the end of this first year of the 113th Congress, I know my colleagues would recognize as well that we are coming upon the 1-year anniversary of the tragic incident that occurred at Sandy Hook. There will be those who will be mourning this afternoon, holding a memorial to acknowledge the tragedy of the lives lost.

In this Congress, to our dismay, we have not been able to pass universal background checks, which could readily be on the floor of the House and be of value to those mourning mothers and fathers who now mourn 1 year later and ask the question: Why?

In addition, we have seen over the last year in many of our jurisdictions the excessive violence that has taken our young people through gun violence, through gangs, and other actions that would welcome this Congress exercising its authority on issues dealing with antiviolence, antibullying, of course, and, again, the ceasing of gun violence.

I look forward to establishing a commission in my community, responding to the incidents of 19 individuals being shot, two teenagers being killed, a young man from Jack Yates High School being killed, and another young man being shot in a park.

So as I rise to support this legislation, I would simply argue, as we move forward on this legislation, that there is work to be done, and I hope we can join together in a bipartisan manner to do so. I hope my colleagues also vote to support H.R. 1447.

Mr. Speaker, I as a long-time member of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, I was pleased to see a bipartisan effort to look into our problem with overcriminalization at the start of the Congress but I am disappointed that much of the crime which has been addressed by the Task Force has dealt with so-called regulatory crimes--as opposed to the type of crime involving violence and weapons--which has lead to prison over-crowding, trumped-up sentences for possession of marijuana, and served to further add to an underclass of Americans who are subject to the difficulty in filling out a job application because of onerous State and Federal laws which seek to punish harshly for missteps which, in the case of drug offenses, should have been managed with treatment and not incarceration.

I believe that most of the Members on the Committee and in the House of Representatives would agree that our prisons are overcrowded and that we must address this and other issues which plague our criminal justice system forthrightly and with urgency.

Having said that, the bill before us today does little to deal with that but it does fall under the ambit of crime and it does seek to address problems in criminal law and policy.

The legislation before us, H.R. 1447, The Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013, sponsored by my Judiciary and CBC colleagues, Bobby Scott and Ranking Member Conyers, requires States that receive certain criminal justice assistance grants to report to the Attorney General on a quarterly basis certain information regarding the death of any person who is detained, arrested, en route to incarceration, or incarcerated in state or local facilities or a boot camp prison. H.R. 1447 also imposes penalties on States that fail to comply with such reporting requirements.

The bill also requires the head of each Federal law enforcement agency to report to the Attorney General annually certain information regarding the death of any person who:

(1) is detained or arrested by any officer of such agency (or by any State or local law enforcement officer for purposes of a Federal law enforcement operation); or

(2) is en route to be incarcerated or detained, or is incarcerated or detained, at any Federal correctional facility or Federal pretrial detention facility located within the United States or any other facility pursuant to a contract with or used by such agency.

Lastly, it requires the Attorney General to study such information and report on means by which it can be used to reduce the number of such deaths.

While I will support this measure--I will continue to urge my Judiciary Committee and House colleagues to think carefully about the problems with over-criminalization of some offenses and why we should be diligent in taking a thoughtful, measured look at the costly problem.

This body must consider taking a comprehensive look at criminal laws and policy which have a disproportionate impact on African Americans and other minorities in Houston, and around this great Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 1447, the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013. This bill would require State and Federal law enforcement agencies to report to the Department of Justice information about the deaths of individuals in their custody.

We have learned from history how useful this information can be. In the 1980s, there was increased focus on conditions in State and local jails and prisons and the problem of prisoners dying in custody. The interest in oversight of this issue was generated partially because of the rise of wrongful death cases brought in relation to these deaths.

Press reports in the 1990s concerning prison abuses and deaths of those incarcerated being attributed to suicide led Congress to develop legislation in response to this problem.

The Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 was enacted to require States to report quarterly to the Attorney General information regarding the death of any person in the process of arrest or who was otherwise in custody, including jails, prisons and juvenile facilities. The reports are brief, essentially stating who died and a brief description of what happened.

The law expired in 2006, which led to an effort to reauthorize substantially the same requirements on States and extend those requirements to the Federal agencies as well. And that is what H.R. 1447 would do.

With this statistical data, policymakers at the State, local, and Federal levels can make informed judgments about the appropriate treatment of prisoners and to develop ways to lower the prison death rate. This policy cannot be made if we don't have this information that the law requires.

In fact, since the focus on deaths in custody emerged in the 1980s and enactment of the law in 2000, reports showed significant declines in suicides and homicides for those in custody.

H.R. 1447 is a strong reaffirmation of the importance of requiring that States submit this information, and the bill expands the commitment to Federal law enforcement agencies as well.

The bill also requires the Attorney General to study the information the Justice Department receives and to issue a report to include a discussion of how the data may be used to reduce preventable deaths.

With the enactment of this legislation, we can make even more progress with respect to reducing preventable deaths of those in custody, which is surely an obligation of government when it incarcerates so many of its citizens.

This initiative has a history of strong bipartisan support, and I thank my colleagues from the other side of the aisle, especially the gentleman from Georgia, and my colleague from Virginia, the Judiciary Committee chairman, Bob Goodlatte, for supporting the bill in committee and bringing it to the floor today.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Yes, I have one additional speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

I yield myself such time as I may consume just to thank the gentlelady from Texas for her statement; the gentleman from Georgia; the chair of the committee, Mr. Goodlatte; and the ranking member, the lead cosponsor of the legislation, Mr. Conyers, for their work. This is an important bill. We could use this information. And I want to thank again all of those that made today possible.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1447) to encourage States to report to the Attorney General certain information regarding the deaths of individuals in the custody of law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 1447, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 directed the Bureau of Justice Statistics within the Department of Justice to collect data on the deaths that occur at two important stages in the criminal justice system: first, deaths that occur in the process of arrest or during the transfer after arrest; and, second, deaths that occur in jails and prisons. The provisions of that act expired in December 2006.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 885 inmates died in the custody of local jails in 2011. This is the lowest number of jail inmate deaths in the 12-year history of the Deaths in Custody Reporting program.

Nearly nine out of 10 State prisoner deaths were as a result of natural causes, the leading reason being cancer and heart disease. Although illness-related deaths have increased slightly in recent years, the homicide and suicide rates in State prisons have dramatically decreased over the last 25 years.

H.R. 1447 reauthorizes this data collection program and directs the Attorney General not only to collect the data, but also to study the data to determine how to reduce deaths in custody in the future. The legislation extends the reporting requirements to deaths that occur in Federal custody.

Although the Death in Custody Reporting Act expired in 2006, the Bureau of Justice Statistics has continued to collect this data. They provide a national resource for understanding mortality in the criminal justice system.

The collection of this data will help the Federal, State, and local governments examine the relationships between deaths in custody and the proper management of jail and prison facilities. It will also provide important information to Congress on any need to improve Federal custody procedures.

Because the Bureau of Justice Statistics has continued to collect the information even though the prior law has expired, this bill will not impose any new cost on the agency. Congress passed similar legislation in three Congresses with overwhelming bipartisan support.

I would like to thank Congressman Scott for introducing this legislation, and I would urge all my colleagues to support it.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Does the gentleman have any other speakers?

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to close up here by thanking both the gentleman from Virginia, Congressman Scott, and Congresswoman Jackson Lee from Texas for their passion and for working hard on this.

This is a good way for our Judiciary Committee to end the year, on something we can agree upon that is a good thing. And I do appreciate the opportunity to be here. I would encourage all of my colleagues to support this fine piece of legislation.

And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, today Senators have finally come together to pass the Death in Custody Reporting Act, which will provide important transparency to law enforcement efforts and our prison system. At a time

when our Nation is having an important conversation about police encounters that result in the loss of life, we know that hundreds of police-related deaths are unaccounted for in Federal statistics. The Death in Custody Reporting Act will require that State and Federal law enforcement officials report deaths in their custody, including those that occur during arrest. The Justice Department will then have the opportunity to analyze the data and see what we can learn from it. The American people deserve as much.

Too many communities across our country are losing faith in our justice system. This bill provides a step toward accountability, and it is my hope that it may ultimately lead to restoring some measure of trust in these communities. If we are ever able to truly embody the words engraved in Vermont marble above the United States Supreme Court building, ``Equal Justice Under the Law,'' then more of course must be done. I look forward to continuing these efforts in the next Congress.

The prior authorization for the Death in Custody Reporting Act expired in 2006, and after too many years of inaction, I am glad that Democrats and Republicans have come together and sent this reauthorization bill to the President for signature. My appreciation goes to Congressman Bobby Scott, who sponsored and has long championed this legislation, as well Senator Richard Blumenthal, who sponsored a Senate version.

This has been an important week for transparency. On Monday, the Senate came together to pass my bipartisan FOIA Improvement Act and I hope the House will soon take up this bill. On Tuesday, I spoke on the Senate floor in favor of the release of the executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee Study of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program. Both of these actions did not come easily, but in both instances the interests of the American public and our values as a democracy prevailed. Today, we have again come together in the interest of transparency for the betterment of our Nation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 604, H.R. 1447.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.