SEVERABILITY CLAUSE

SEC. 10. The essential purposes of this Act being the safeguarding of rights of citizens of the United States and the furtherance of protection of the lives, persons, and property of such citizens and other persons against unlawful and violent interference with or prevention of the orderly processes of justice, and against possible 'dereliction of duty in this respect by States, or any governmental subdivision thereof, or any officer or employee of either a State or governmental subdivision thereof, if any particular provision, sentence, or clause, or provisions, sentences, or clauses, of this Act or the application thereof to any particular person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act, and the application of 'such provision to other persons or other circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 11. This Act may be cited as the "Federal Anti-Lynching Act."

.

[H. R. 3850, 80th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To declare certain rights of citizens of the United States, and for the better assurance of the protection of such citizens and other persons within the several States from mob violence and lynching, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.

FINDINGS AND POLICY

SECTION 1. The Congress hereby makes the following findings:.

(a) The duty of each State to refrain from depriving any person of life, 'liberty, or property, without due process of law, and from denying to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, imposes on all States the obligation to exercise their police powers in a manner which will protect all persons equally without discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, language, or religion. A State deprives a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law and denies him the equal protection of the laws when the State's inaction has the effect of a discriminatory withholding of protection.

When a State, by the malfeasance or nonfeasance of its officials, permits persons not expressly designated as its agents to punish any person within its jurisdiction for crimes or alleged crimes, without trial or other due process of law, and "condones such conduct by participating in or facilitating such conduct or by "failing to punish either those of its officials who permit such conduct or those 'guilty of the conduct, the State effectively deprives the victims of such conduct of life, liberty, or property without due process of law and denies to them the equal protection of the laws.

Lynching constitutes an organized effort not only to punish the persons lynched but also to terrorize the groups, in the community or elsewhere, of which the persons lynched are members by reason of their race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, language, or religion, and thus to deny to all members of such groups, and to prevent them from exercising, the rights guaranteed to them by the · Constitution and laws of the United States. By condoning lynching, the State makes the lynching, punishment without due process of law, or other denial of the equal protection of the laws its own act and gives the color and authority of State law to the acts of those guilty of the lynching, punishment, or other denial.

(b) When persons within a State are deprived by a State or by individuals Iwithin a State, with or without condonation by a State or its officials, of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, language, or religion, they are denied, or limited in the exercise of, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

(c) The law of nations requires that every person be secure against violence to himself or his property by reason of his race, creed, color, national origin, - ancestry, language, or religion.

SEC. 2. The Congress finds that the succeeding provisions of this Act are necessary in order to accomplish the following purposes:

(a) To enforce the provisions of article XIV, section 1, of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States;

(b) To promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, language, or religion, in accordance with the treaty obligations assumed by the United States under article 55 and article 56 of the United Nations Charter; and (c) To define and punish offenses against the law of nations.

RIGHT TO BE FREE OF LYNCHING

SEC. 3. It is hereby declared that the right to be free from lynching is a right of citizens of the United States, accruing to them by virtue of such citizenship. Such right is in addition to any similar rights they may have as citizens of any of the several States or as persons within their jurisdiction.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 4. Any assemblage of two or more persons which shall, without authority of law, (a) commit or attempt to commit violence upon the person or property of any citizen or citizens of the United States because of his or their race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, language, or religion, or (b) exercise or attempt to exercise, by physical violence against person or property, any power of correction or punishment over any citizen or citizens of the United States or other person or persons in the custody of any peace officer or suspected of, charged with, or convicted of the commission of any criminal offense, with the purpose or consequence of preventing the apprehension or trial or punishment by law of such citizen or citizens, persons or persons, or of imposing a punishment not authorized by law, shall constitute a lynch mob within the meaning of this Act. Any such violence by a lynch mob shall constitute lynching within the meaning of this Act.

PUNISHMENT FOR LYNCHING

SEC. 5. Any person whether or not a member of a lynch mob who willfully instigates, incites, organizes, aids, abets, or commits a lynching by any means whatsoever, and any member of a lynch mob, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $10,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding twenty years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

PUNISHMENT FOR FAILURE TO PREVENT LYNCHING

SEC. 6. Whenever a lynching shall occur, any officer or employee of a State or any governmental subdivision thereof, who shall have been charged with the duty or shall have possessed the authority as such officer or employee to prevent the lynching, but shall have neglected, refused, or willfully failed to make all diligent efforts to prevent the lynching, and any officer or employee of a State or governmental subdivision thereof who shall have had custody of the person or persons lynched and shall have neglected, refused, or willfully failed to make all diligent efforts to protect such person or persons from lynching, and any officer or employee of a State or governmental subdivision thereof who, in violation of his duty as such officer or employee, shall neglect, refuse, or willfully fail to make all diligent efforts to apprehend, keep in custody, or prosecute the members or any member of the lynching mob, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

DUTY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES

SEC. 7. Whenever a lynching of any person or persons shall occur, and information on oath is submitted to the Attorney General of the United States that any officer or employee of a State or any governmental subdivision thereof who shall have been charged with the duty or shall have possessed the authority as such officer or employee to protect such person or persons from lynching, or who shall have had custody of the person or persons lynched, has neglected, refused, or willfully failed to make all diligent efforts to protect such person or persons from lynching or that any officer or employee of a State or governmental subdivision thereof, in violation of his duty as such officer or employee, has neglected, refused, or willfully failed to make all diligent efforts to apprehend, keep in custody, or prosecute the members or any member of the lynching mob, the Attorney General of the United States shall cause an investigation to be made to determine whether there has been any violation of this Act.

COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF LYNCHING

SEC. 8. (1) Every governmental subdivision of a State which the State shall have delegated functions of police shall be responsible for any lynching occurring within its territorial jurisdiction. Every such governmental subdivision shall also be responsible for any lynching which follows upon the seizure and abduction of the victim or victims within its territorial jurisdiction, irrespective of whether such lynching occurs within its territorial jurisdiction or not. Any such governmental subdivision which shall fail to prevent any such lynching or any such seizure and abduction followed by lynching shall be liable to each individual who suffers injury to his or her person or property, or to his or her next of kin if such injury results in death, for a sum of not less than $2,000 and not more than $10,000 as monetary compensation for such injury or death: Provided, however, That the governmental subdivision may prove by a preponderance of evidence as an affirmative defense that the officers thereof charged with the duty of preserving the peace, and the citizens thereof, when called upon by any such officer, used all diligence and all powers vested in them for the protection of the person lynched: And provided further, That the satisfaction of judgment against one governmeneal subdivision responsible for a lynching shall bar further proceedings against any other governmental subdivision which may also be responsible for that lynching.

(2) Liability arising under this section may be enforced and the compensation herein provided for may be recovered in a civil action in the United States district court for the judicial district of which the defendant governmental subdivision is a part. Such action shall be brought and prosecuted by the Attorney General of the United States in the name of the United States for the use of the real party in interest, or, if the claimant or claimants shall so elect, by counsel employed by the claimant or claimants, but in any event without prepayment of costs. If the amount of any such judgment shall not be paid upon demand, payment thereof, may be enforced by any process available under the State law for the enforcement of any other money judgment against such governmental subdivision. Any officer of such governmental dubdivision or any other person who shall disobey or fail to comply with any lawful order or decree of the court for the enforcement of the judgment shall be guilty of contempt of that court and punished accordingly. The cause of action accruing hereunder to a person injured by lynching shall not abate with the subsequent death of that person before final judgment but shall survive to his or her next of kin. For the purpose of this Act the next of kin of a deceased victim of lynching shall be determined according to the laws of interstate distribution in the State of domicile of the decedent. Any judgment or award under this Act shall be exempt from all claims of creditors.

(3) Any judge of the United States district court for the judicial district wherein any suit shall be instituted under the provisions of this Act may by order direct that such suit be tried in any place in such district as he may designate in such order: Provided, That no such suit shall be tried within the territorial limits of the defendant governmental subdivision.

SEC. 9. The crime defined in and punishable under the Act of June 22, 1932 (47 Stat. 326), as amended by the Act of May 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 781), shall include the transportation in interstate or foreign commerce of any person unlawfully abducted and held for purposes of punishment, correction, or intimidation.

SEVERABILITY CLAUSE

SEC. 10. The essential purposes of this Act being the safeguarding of rights of citizens of the United States and the furtherance of protection of the lives, persons, and property of such citizens and other persons against unlawful and violent interference with or prevention of the orderly processes of justice, and against possible dereliction of duty in this respect by States, or any governmental subdivision thereof, or any officer or employee of either a State or governmental subdivision thereof, if any particular provision, sentence, or clause, or provisions, sentences, or clauses, of this Act or the application thereof to any particular person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act, and the application of such provision to other persons or other circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 11. This Act may be cited as the "Federal Anti-Lynching Act".

[H. R. 3618, 80th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To declare certain rights of citizens of the United States, and for the better assurance of the protection of such citizens and other persons within the several States from mob violence and lynching, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

FINDINGS AND POLICY

SECTION 1. The Congress hereby makes the following findings:

(a) The duty of each State to refrain from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, and from denying to any person within its jurisdiction, the equal protection of the laws, imposes on all States the obligation to exercise their police powers in a manner which will protect all persons equally without discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, language, or religion. A State deprives a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law and denies him the equal protection of the laws when the State's inaction has the effect of a discriminatory withholding of protection.

When a State, by the malfeasance or nonfeasance of its officials, permits persons not expressly designated as its agents to punish any person within its jurisdiction for crimes or alleged crimes, without trial or other due process of law, and condones such conduct by participating in or facilitating such conduct or by failing to punish either those of its officials who permit such conduct or those guilty of the conduct, the State effectively deprives the victims of such conduct of life, liberty, or property without due process of law and denies to them the equal protection of the laws.

Lynching constitutes an organized effort not only to punish the persons lynched but also to terrorize the groups, in the community or elsewhere, of which the persons lynched are members by reason of their race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, language, or religion, and thus to deny to all members of such groups, and to prevent them from exercising, the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States. By condoning lynching, the State makes the lynching, punishment without due process of law, or other denial of the equal protection of the laws its own act and gives the color and authority of State law to the acts of those guilty of the lynching, punishment, or other denial. (b) When persons within a State are deprived by a State or by individuals within a State, with or without condonation by a State or its officials, of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, language, or religion, they are denied, or limited in the exercise of, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

(c) The law of nations requires that every person be secure against violence to himself or his property by reason of his race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, language, or religion.

SEC. 2. The Congress finds that the succeeding provisions of this Act are necessary in order to accomplish the following purposes:

(a) To enforce the provisions of article XIV, section 1, of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States;

(b) To promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, langugae, or religion, in accordance with the treaty obligations assumed by the United States under article 55 and article 56 of the United Nations Charter; and

(c) To define and punish offenses against the law of nations.

RIGHT TO BE FREE OF LYNCHING

SEC. 3. It is hereby declared that the right to be free from lynching is a right of citizens of the United States, accruing to them by virtue of such citizenship. Such right is in addition to any similar rights they may have as citizens of any of the several States or as persons within their jurisdiction.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 4. Any assemblage of two or more persons which shall, without authority of law, (a) commit or attempt to commit violence upon any person or persons or on his or their property because of his or their race, creed, color, national

72144- -48-ser. 14- -2

origin, ancestry, language, or religion, or (b) exercise or attempt to exercise, by physical violence against person or property, any power of correction or punishment over any citizen or citizens of the United States or other person or persons in the custody of any peace officer or suspected of, charged with, or convicted of the commission of any criminal offense, with the purpose or consequence of preventing the apprehension or trial or punishment by law of such citizen or citizens, person or persons, or of imposing a punishment not authorized by law, shall constitute a lynch mob within the meaning of this Act. Any such violence by a lynch mob shall constitute lynching within the meaning of this Act.

PUNISHMENT FOR LYNCHING

SEC. 5. Any person whether or not a member of a lynch mob who willfully instigates, incites, organizes, aids, abets, or commits a lynching by any means whatsoever, and any member of a lynch mob, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $10,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding twenty years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

PUNISHMENT FOR FAILURE TO PREVENT LYNCHING

SEC. 6. Whenever a lynching shall occur, any officer or employee of a State or any governmental subdivision thereof, who shall have been charged with the duty or shall have possessed the authority as such officer or employee to prevent the lynching, but shall have neglected, refused, or willfully failed to make all diligent efforts to prevent the lynching, and any officer or employee of a State of governmental subdivision thereof who shall have had custody of the person or persons lynched and shall have neglected, refused, or willfully failed to make all diligent efforts to protect such person or persons from lynching, and any officer or employee of a State or governmental subdivision thereof who, in violation of his duty as such officer or employee, shall neglect, refuse, or willfully fail to make all diligent efforts to apprehend, keep in custody, or prosecute the members or any member of the lynching mob, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

DUTY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES

SEC. 7. Whenever a lynching of any person or persons shall occur, and information on oath is submitted to the Attorney General of the United States that any officer or employee of a State or any governmental subdivision thereof who shall have been charged with the duty or shall have possessed the authority as such officer or employee to protect such person or persons from lynching, or who shall have had custody of the person or persons lynched, has neglected, refused, or willfully failed to make all diligent efforts to protect such person or persons from lynching or that any officer or employee of a State or governmental subdivision thereof, in violation of his duty as such officer or employee, has neglected, refused, or willfully failed to make all diligent efforts to apprehend, keep in custody, or prosecute the members or any member of the lynching mob, the Attorney General of the United States shall cause an investigation to be made to determine whether there has been any violation of this Act.

COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF LYNCHING

SEC. 8. (1) Every governmenal subdivision of a State to which the State shall have delegated functions of police shall be responsible for any lynching occurring within its territorial jurisdiction. Every such governmental subdivision shall also be responsible for any lynching which follows upon the seizure and abduction of the victim or victims within its territorial jurisdiction, irrespective of whether such lynching occurs within its territorial jurisdiction or not. Any such governmental subdivision which shall fail to prevent any such lynching or any such seizure and abduction followed by lynching shall be liable to each individual who suffers injury to his or her person or property, or to his or her next of kin if such injury results in death, for a sum not less than $2,000 and not more than $10,000 as monetary compensation for such injury or death: Provided, however, That the governmental subdivision may prove by a preponderance of evidence as an affirmative defense that the officers thereof charged with the duty of preserving the peace, and the citizens thereof, when called upon by any such officer, used all diligence and all powers vested in them for the protection of the person lynched: