Juvenile Incarceration Reduction Act of 2020
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Juvenile Incarceration Reduction Act of 2020
This bill limits the use of risk and needs assessment systems in decisions related to juveniles in a criminal law context. (A risk and needs assessment system evaluates, among other things, a particular individual's risk of recidivism after release from prison and what programs may reduce that risk.)
Under the bill, such a system may not be used to determine whether a juvenile may or should be treated as an adult in a criminal proceeding. Such a system may also not be used (1) to determine the recidivism risk of a juvenile charged with a nonviolent offense, or (2) as the sole factor to determine the recidivism risk of a juvenile who has committed an act of juvenile delinquency that would be a felony if committed by an adult.
The bill also prohibits using such a system to (1) determine a juvenile should be taken into custody for an alleged act of juvenile delinquency prior to adjudication; or (2) establish, without additional evidence, a juvenile's eligibility or suitability for a recidivism reduction program.
If such a system is used to determine the recidivism risk of a juvenile who has committed an act of juvenile delinquency that would be a felony if committed by an adult, any evidence established by the system is inadmissible as evidence to establish that the juvenile committed the act in question.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 16, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 16, 2020: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
JOHN LEWIS (D-GA) introduced it on July 16, 2020. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 16, 2020, 2247 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2247 days ago, on July 16, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers