WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representatives Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and Hank Johnson (GA-04) introduced the Bivens Act, legislation that allows citizens to recover damages for constitutional violations committed against them by federal officials, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, and federal prison officials.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) introduced the Senate companion.
After the Civil War, Congress enacted 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to ensure that state and local officials could not violate individuals’ federal constitutional rights with impunity. Section 1983 is designed to allow individuals to sue state and local officials to recover damages for constitutional violations. It is the primary tool victims of police misconduct and other government abuse use to seek redress for constitutional injuries at the state and local level. But there is no comparable statute providing an express cause of action for victims of constitutional violations perpetrated by federal actors.
Instead, victims of constitutional or statutory violations by federal officials have been left to implied causes of action. Since the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bivens doctrine has recognized limited circumstances in which the Constitution itself authorizes a self-executing remedy for damages. But the Court has significantly curtailed the availability of Bivens claims in recent years. In February 2020, the Court in Hernandez v. Mesa went so far as to note that “it is doubtful” today’s Court would have recognized Bivens claims at all.
"When the rights of the people are violated by our government, it should be the right of the people to hold the government accountable,” said Rep. Raskin. “The Bivens Act empowers our people to seek damages from the federal government when federal law enforcement officers exceed their authority and violate a person’s constitutional rights. This legislation is about giving a remedy to victims of official misconduct and the opportunity to vindicate a violated right with a meaningful remedy. It is my honor to be leading this effort with Representative Johnson and Senator Whitehouse, two crucial friends in our shared fight for strong democracy.”
“Victims of constitutional violations by federal officers too often have no legal recourse,” said Rep. Johnson. “From ICE officers who conduct illegal searches and seizures, to Bureau of Land Management officials who intimidate property owners into providing easements, to servicemembers who rape other members of the military and retaliate against those who report assaults to commanders – they are all too often immunized from damages for their constitutional wrongs. This bill fixes the issue by increasing judicial accountability for unlawful federal government action.”
“Public officials at all levels of government, including law enforcement, should have a clear, fair standard of accountability when they break the law,” said Whitehouse. “Our Bivens Act would end the confusing judicial precedent that for too long has prevented victims from holding federal officials accountable and securing compensation for constitutional violations.”
The legislation was cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and in the House by Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Danny Davis (IL-07), Jesús "Chuy" García (IL-04), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Summer Lee (PA-12), Eleanor Norton (DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-12).
The following stakeholder groups support this legislation: American Civil Liberties Union, Lawyers for Good Government, Amnesty International, National Immigration Project, The Black Police Experience (BPX, LLC), Government Information Watch, Drug Policy Alliance, Constitutional Accountability Center, Protect Democracy, The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), National Network to End Domestic Violence, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Justice and Joy National Collaborative, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Justice in Motion, Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.
Read the bill HERE.
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