Post on 10-Aug-2020
FALL 2015 FEDERAL UPDATE
Law, Criminal Justice & Public Safety Committee
Susan Frederick, Esq.
Danielle Dean, Esq.
IMMIGRATION RELATED ACTIVITY
Refugee Resettlement
Legislation • Bill H.R. 4038 - Passed House, 11/19/15
• Calls for enhanced background checks
for potential refugees from Iraq and
Syria
• White House SAP
• NCSL Issue Brief on the U.S. Refugee
Resettlement Program
http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/t
he-u-s-refugee-resettlement-program-a-
primer-for-policymakers.aspx
5th Circuit Court of
Appeals• Filed 11/09/15
• Questioned the legality of
DACA/DAPA
• Pres. Obama DAPA Memo must go
through APA notice-and-comment
• Standing
• Holding: Court blocked DACA/DAPA
• Next steps- Petition for Cert. SCOTUS
http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/p
ub/15/15-40238-CV0.pdf
Sanctuary Cities
Legislation• Senate Bill S. 2146 – did not pass
• Prohibits States and Political
subdivisions from receiving major
grant funding if they have sanctuary
city policies in effect
• NCSL Opposition Letter
http://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-
dc/standing-committees/law-criminal-
justice-and-public-safety/law-and-
criminal-justice-federal-activity.aspx
CYBERSECURITY
Senate Bill S. 754
• Cybersecurity
Information Sharing
Act (CISA)
• Passed Senate
10/27/15
• Content &
Supporters of the
Bill
House Bill H.R. 1560
• Protecting Cyber
Networks Act
(PCNA)
• Passed House
4/22/15
• Content &
Supporters of the
Bill
House Bill H.R. 1731
• National
Cybersecurity
Protection
Advancement Act of
2015 (NCPAA)
• Passed House 4/23/15
• Content & Supporters
of the Bill
You can find NCSL policy on cybersecurity here: http://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-dc/task-
forces/policies-law-and-criminal-justice.aspx
CYBERSECURITY: NEXT STEPS1. Cybersecurity Legislation
2. U.S. Dept. Of Justice, Global Action Committee
ISSUES TO WATCH
• North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC
• In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court created the state action doctrine which grants states immunity from
federal antitrust laws
• 2015 U.S. Supreme Court held that to be immune from federal antitrust laws, there must be “active
supervision” of state boards and commissions when a controlling number of board members are
market participants. Opinion - http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/north-carolina-board-of-
dental-examiners-v-federal-trade-commission/
• FTC issued guidance language to clarify “active supervision.”
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/attachments/competition-policy-
guidance/active_supervision_of_state_boards.pdf
• State regulatory board requires active supervision when there is a controlling number of active market
participants - defined as a person who is licensed by the board or provides any service subject to the
regulatory authority of the board.
• Active supervision is flexible and FTC will decide on case-by-case basis dependent on a few guiding
principles.
ISSUES TO WATCH CON’T.
• How do we know the requirement of active supervision has been satisfied?
• Supervisor has gathered all information (facts, data, public hearings) needed for a proper
evaluation of the board’s action.
• Supervisor has analyzed the merits of the recommended action and determined whether
the action agrees with the standards established by the state legislature.
• Supervisor issues a written decision approving, modifying or disapproving the board’s
recommendation.
• Examples of what DOES constitute active supervision
• Examples of what does NOT constitute active supervision
ISSUES TO WATCH CON’T.
• Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
• S. 1169 and H.R. 2728 – STALLED. Maybe next year
• Mental Health Bill
• Will come back in next Congress
• Increases important federal funding to states for addressing the mentally ill in the criminal
justice system.
• Provides for specialized crisis team law enforcement training who will respond to mental
health crises and hopefully de-escalate the situation.
• Seeks to improve pre-trial screening to better identify mentally ill offenders so they can
receive accurate diagnoses and proper treatment.
• Increases the use of treatment-based alternatives to incarceration for mentally ill
offenders.
• Improves reentry programming for mentally ill offenders.
ISSUES TO WATCH CON’T
• Criminal Justice Legislation
• S. 2123 “Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act”
• Reduces some mandatory minimums for the least violent of federal offenders.
• Important to watch because it will save the Bureau of Prisons a lot of $$$
• This savings could be reallocated into other federal funding streams, like Byrne/JAG
• NCSL letter of support - http://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-dc/standing-committees/law-criminal-
justice-and-public-safety/law-and-criminal-justice-federal-activity.aspx
• H.R. 3713, the “Sentencing Reform Act of 2015”; H.R. 4002, the “Criminal Code
Improvement Act of 2015”; H.R. 4003, the “Regulatory Reporting Act of 2015”; H.R. 4001,
the “Fix the Footnotes Act of 2015”; and, H.R. 4023, the “Clean Up the Code Act of 2015”
• House package of bills that will only impact federal prisons and offenses.
APPROPRIATIONS
• Byrne JAG - $382,000,000
• State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) - $75,000,000
• Upgrade criminal and mental health records for the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS) -$55,000,000
• DNA related and forensic programs and activities - $125,000,000
• Offender reentry (Second Chance Act) $68,000,000
• Juvenile Justice grants to states - $65,500,000
• Youth mentoring grants - $75,000,000
• Delinquency Prevention - $40,000,000
• Late October budget deal – rescinds and permanently cancels $1.5 billion of the funds
deposited or available in the Crime Victims fund.
APPROPRIATIONS, CON’T.DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
• Law Enforcement relating to border security, immigration, customs and transportation of
unaccompanied minor aliens - $8,779,325,000 (last year $8,459,657,000)
• Disaster Relief Fund - $7,374,693,000 (last year 7,033,464,494)
• Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure and Technology - $373,461,000 (last year $382,466,000)
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement - $5,762,494,000 (last year $5,932,756,000)
• FEMA Operations - $928,806,000 (last year 934,396,000)
• State & Local Programs - $1.5 billion (same as last year)
• $55 million State Homeland Security Grant Program
• $600 million for Urban Area Security Initiative
• $233 million training, exercises, technical assistance and other programs
• E-Verify - $119,671,000(last year $124,435,000)