[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9060 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9060

 To amend section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States to 
 clarify that States are persons for purposes of liability under that 
                    section, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 31, 2020

 Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States to 
 clarify that States are persons for purposes of liability under that 
                    section, 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. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States Supreme Court has held that the 
        Eleventh Amendment grants sovereign immunity to States in 
        Federal court absent a waiver by the State or congressional 
        action.
            (2) The United States Supreme Court has further held that a 
        lawsuit brought under section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of 
        the United States (42 U.S.C. 1983) against a government 
        official for actions taken in their official capacity is to be 
        treated as a lawsuit against the entity of which the officer is 
        an agent.
            (3) Due to sovereign immunity, lawsuits for actions brought 
        under such section may be filed against a State government 
        official in their personal capacity but not in their official 
        capacity.
            (4) This Act does not increase liability for government 
        officials in personal capacity cases in any way, but helps to 
        ensure equitable and monetary relief for victims of civil 
        rights violations.

SEC. 2. LIABILITY OF STATES FOR ACTIONS UNDER COLOR OF LAW.

    Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 
U.S.C. 1983) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``For 
purposes of this section, the term `person' includes a State or 
Commonwealth, and a department, office, or officer acting in their 
official capacity, thereof.''
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