
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC3789d]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                 CHAPTER 46--JUSTICE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT
 
               SUBCHAPTER VIII--ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
 
Sec. 3789d. Prohibition of Federal control over State and local 
        criminal justice agencies; prohibition of discrimination
        

(a) General rule

    Nothing in this chapter or any other Act shall be construed to 
authorize any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United 
States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over any 
police force or any other criminal justice agency of any State or any 
political subdivision thereof.

(b) Racial imbalance requirement restriction

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing contained in 
this chapter shall be construed to authorize the National Institute of 
Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, or the Law Enforcement 
Assistance Administration--
        (1) to require, or condition the availability or amount of a 
    grant upon the adoption by an applicant or grantee under this 
    chapter of a percentage ratio, quota system, or other program to 
    achieve racial balance in any criminal justice agency; or
        (2) to deny or discontinue a grant because of the refusal of an 
    applicant or grantee under this chapter to adopt such a ratio, 
    system, or other program.

(c) Discrimination prohibited; notice of non-compliance; suspension and 
        restoration of payments; hearing; civil action by Attorney 
        General; private action, attorney fees, intervention by Attorney 
        General

    (1) No person in any State shall on the ground of race, color, 
religion, national origin, or sex be excluded from participation in, be 
denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under or 
denied employment in connection with any programs or activity funded in 
whole or in part with funds made available under this chapter.
    (2)(A) Whenever there has been--
        (i) receipt of notice of a finding, after notice and opportunity 
    for a hearing, by a Federal court (other than in an action brought 
    by the Attorney General) or State court, or by a Federal or State 
    administrative agency, to the effect that there has been a pattern 
    or practice of discrimination in violation of paragraph (1); or
        (ii) a determination after an investigation by the Office of 
    Justice Programs (prior to a hearing under subparagraph (F) but 
    including an opportunity for the State government or unit of local 
    government to make a documentary submission regarding the allegation 
    of discrimination with respect to such program or activity, with 
    funds made available under this chapter) that a State government or 
    unit of local government is not in compliance with paragraph (1);

the Office of Justice Programs shall, within ten days after such 
occurrence, notify the chief executive of the affected State, or the 
State in which the affected unit of local government is located, and the 
chief executive of such unit of local government, that such program or 
activity has been so found or determined not to be in compliance with 
paragraph (1), and shall request each chief executive, notified under 
this subparagraph with respect to such violation, to secure compliance. 
For purposes of clause (i) a finding by a Federal or State 
administrative agency shall be deemed rendered after notice and 
opportunity for a hearing if it is rendered pursuant to procedures 
consistent with the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5.
    (B) In the event the chief executive secures compliance after notice 
pursuant to subparagraph (A), the terms and conditions with which the 
affected State government or unit of local government agrees to comply 
shall be set forth in writing and signed by the chief executive of the 
State, by the chief executive of such unit (in the event of a violation 
by a unit of local government), and by the Office of Justice Programs. 
On or prior to the effective date of the agreement, the Office of 
Justice Programs shall send a copy of the agreement to each complainant, 
if any, with respect to such violation. The chief executive of the 
State, or the chief executive of the unit (in the event of a violation 
by a unit of local government) shall file semiannual reports with the 
Office of Justice Programs detailing the steps taken to comply with the 
agreement. These reports shall cease to be filed upon the determination 
of the Office of Justice Programs that compliance has been secured, or 
upon the determination by a Federal or State court that such State 
government or local governmental unit is in compliance with this 
section. Within fifteen days of receipt of such reports, the Office of 
Justice Programs shall send a copy thereof to each such complainant.
    (C) If, at the conclusion of ninety days after notification under 
subparagraph (A)--
        (i) compliance has not been secured by the chief executive of 
    that State or the chief executive of that unit of local government; 
    and
        (ii) an administrative law judge has not made a determination 
    under subparagraph (F) that it is likely the State government or 
    unit of local government will prevail on the merits; the Office of 
    Justice Programs shall notify the Attorney General that compliance 
    has not been secured and caused to have suspended further payment of 
    any funds under this chapter to that program or activity. Such 
    suspension shall be limited to the specific program or activity 
    cited by the Office of Justice Programs in the notice under 
    subparagraph (A). Such suspension shall be effective for a period of 
    not more than one hundred and twenty days, or, if there is a hearing 
    under subparagraph (G), not more than thirty days after the 
    conclusion of such hearing, unless there has been an express finding 
    by the Office of Justice Programs, after notice and opportunity for 
    such a hearing, that the recipient is not in compliance with 
    paragraph (1).

    (D) Payment of the suspended funds shall resume only if--
        (i) such State government or unit of local government enters 
    into a compliance agreement approved by the Office of Justice 
    Programs and the Attorney General in accordance with subparagraph 
    (B);
        (ii) such State government or unit of local government complies 
    fully with the final order or judgment of a Federal or State court, 
    or by a Federal or State administrative agency if that order or 
    judgment covers all the matters raised by the Office of Justice 
    Programs in the notice pursuant to subparagraph (A), or is found to 
    be in compliance with paragraph (1) by such court; or
        (iii) after a hearing the Office of Justice Programs pursuant to 
    subparagraph (F) finds that noncompliance has not been demonstrated.

    (E) Whenever the Attorney General files a civil action alleging a 
pattern or practice of discriminatory conduct on the basis of race, 
color, religion, national origin, or sex in any program or activity of a 
State government or unit of local government which State government or 
unit of local government receives funds made available under this 
chapter, and the conduct allegedly violates the provisions of this 
section and neither party within forty-five days after such filing has 
been granted such preliminary relief with regard to the suspension or 
payment of funds as may be otherwise available by law, the Office of 
Justice Programs shall cause to have suspended further payment of any 
funds under this chapter to that specific program or activity alleged by 
the Attorney General to be in violation of the provisions of this 
subsection until such time as the court orders resumption of payment.
    (F) Prior to the suspension of funds under subparagraph (C), but 
within the ninety-day period after notification under subparagraph (C), 
the State government or unit of local government may request an 
expedited preliminary hearing on the record in accordance with section 
554 of title 5, in order to determine whether it is likely that the 
State government or unit of local government would, at a full hearing 
under subparagraph (G), prevail on the merits on the issue of the 
alleged noncompliance. A finding under this subparagraph by the 
administrative law judge in favor of the State government or unit of 
local government shall defer the suspension of funds under subparagraph 
(C) pending a finding of noncompliance at the conclusion of the hearing 
on the merits under subparagraph (G).
    (G)(i) At any time after notification under subparagraph (A), but 
before the conclusion of the one-hundred-and-twenty-day period referred 
to in subparagraph (C), a State government or unit of local government 
may request a hearing on the record in accordance with section 554 of 
title 5, which the Office of Justice Programs shall initiate within 
sixty days of such request.
    (ii) Within thirty days after the conclusion of the hearing, or, in 
the absence of a hearing, at the conclusion of the one-hundred-and-
twenty-day period referred to in subparagraph (C), the Office of Justice 
Programs shall make a finding of compliance or noncompliance. If the 
Office of Justice Programs makes a finding of noncompliance, the Office 
of Justice Programs shall notify the Attorney General in order that the 
Attorney General may institute a civil action under paragraph (3), cause 
to have terminated the payment of funds under this chapter, and, if 
appropriate, seek repayment of such funds.
    (iii) If the Office of Justice Programs makes a finding of 
compliance, payment of the suspended funds shall resume as provided in 
subparagraph (D).
    (H) Any State government or unit of local government aggrieved by a 
final determination of the Office of Justice Programs under subparagraph 
(G) may appeal such determination as provided in section 3785 of this 
title.
    (3) Whenever the Attorney General has reason to believe that a State 
government or unit of local government has engaged in or is engaging in 
a pattern or practice in violation of the provisions of this section, 
the Attorney General may bring a civil action in an appropriate United 
States district court. Such court may grant as relief any temporary 
restraining order, preliminary or permanent injunction, or other order, 
as necessary or appropriate to insure the full enjoyment of the rights 
described in this section, including the suspension, termination, or 
repayment of such funds made available under this chapter as the court 
may deem appropriate, or placing any further such funds in escrow 
pending the outcome of the litigation.
    (4)(A) Whenever a State government or unit of local government, or 
any officer or employee thereof acting in an official capacity, has 
engaged or is engaging in any act or practice prohibited by this 
subsection, a civil action may be instituted after exhaustion of 
administrative remedies by the person aggrieved in an appropriate United 
States district court or in a State court of general jurisdiction. 
Administrative remedies shall be deemed to be exhausted upon the 
expiration of sixty days after the date the administrative complaint was 
filed with the Office of Justice Programs or any other administrative 
enforcement agency, unless within such period there has been a 
determination by the Office of Justice Programs or the agency on the 
merits of the complaint, in which case such remedies shall be deemed 
exhausted at the time the determination becomes final.
    (B) In any civil action brought by a private person to enforce 
compliance with any provision of this subsection, the court may grant to 
a prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorney fees, unless the court 
determines that the lawsuit is frivolous, vexatious, brought for 
harassment purposes, or brought principally for the purpose of gaining 
attorney fees.
    (C) In any action instituted under this section to enforce 
compliance with paragraph (1), the Attorney General, or a specially 
designated assistant for or in the name of the United States, may 
intervene upon timely application if he certifies that the action is of 
general public importance. In such action the United States shall be 
entitled to the same relief as if it had instituted the action.

(Pub. L. 90-351, title I, Sec. 809, formerly Sec. 815, as added Pub. L. 
96-157, Sec. 2, Dec. 27, 1979, 93 Stat. 1206; renumbered Sec. 809 and 
amended Pub. L. 98-473, title II, Sec. 609B(f), (h)), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 
Stat. 2093, 2095; Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXIII, Sec. 330001(h)(11), 
Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2139.)


                            Prior Provisions

    Provisions similar to this section were contained in former section 
3766 of this title prior to the general amendment of this chapter by 
Pub. L. 96-157.
    A prior section 809 of Pub. L. 90-351, title I, as added Pub. L. 96-
157, Sec. 2, Dec. 27, 1979, 93 Stat. 1204, amended section 5315 of Title 
5, Government Organization and Employees, prior to repeal by section 
609B(e) of Pub. L. 98-473.


                               Amendments

    1994--Subsec. (c)(2)(H). Pub. L. 103-322 made technical amendment to 
reference to section 3785 of this title to correct reference to 
corresponding section of original act.
    1984--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 609B(h)(2), struck out 
``contained'' after ``Nothing''.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 98-473, Sec. 609B(h)(3), substituted ``Office 
of Justice Programs'' for ``Office of Justice Assistance, Research, and 
Statistics'' wherever appearing.


                    Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

    Amendment by section 609B(h) of Pub. L. 98-473 effective Oct. 12, 
1984, see section 609AA(a) of Pub. L. 98-473, set out as an Effective 
Date note under section 3711 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 3785, 5672, 10504 of this 
title.
