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To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide for procedures under which persons wrongfully arrested by the Postal Inspection Service on narcotics charges may seek compensation from the United States Postal Service.
H. R. 4695 To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide for procedures under which persons wrongfully arrested by the Postal Inspection Service on narcotics charges may seek compensation from the United States Postal Service.
Summary
This bill establishes procedures for persons wrongfully arrested by the Postal Inspection Service on narcotics charges to seek compensation from the United States Postal Service. The bill applies to individuals arrested after December 31, 1983 in investigations involving paid confidential informants who were not convicted of the drug charges. Eligible individuals may file a petition for compensation before a panel of three administrative law judges after exhausting other available legal remedies, within two years of doing so. The panel may award up to $500,000 to compensate for harm suffered by the arrested person, their spouse, or their children, considering factors such as the nature of the harm, the Postal Inspection Service's failure to take reasonable precautions, and any pattern of similar wrongful arrests. Compensation awards are paid from the Postal Service Fund and are not subject to further administrative or judicial review.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
6 cosponsors
Actions (5)
- Jul 13, 1994 Executive Comment Requested from OMB, Post Office - Immediate Office. · house
- Jul 12, 1994 Referred to the Subcommittee on Census, Statistics and Postal Personnel. · house
- Jun 30, 1994 Referred to the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. · house
- Jun 30, 1994 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1386)
- Jun 30, 1994 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 1994
Mr. Clay introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service
A BILL
To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide for procedures under which persons wrongfully arrested by the Postal Inspection Service on narcotics charges may seek compensation from the United States Postal Service.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PROCEDURES FOR SEEKING COMPENSATION.
(a) In General.—Chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “Sec. 414. Compensation for certain wrongfully arrested individuals
“(a) Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Judicial Officer shall by regulation establish procedures under which any individual described in subsection (b)(1)(A) may seek compensation under this section.
“(b) The regulations shall include provisions under which—
“(1) a petition for compensation may be brought—
“(A) by any individual—
“(i) arrested by the Postal Inspection Service—
“(I) after December 31, 1983;
“(II) pursuant to any investigation in which one or more paid confidential informants were used;
“(III) for violating any law of the United States, or of any State, prohibiting the use, sale, or possession of a controlled substance; but
“(ii) who is not convicted, pursuant to such arrest, of a violation of any law described in clause (i);
“(B) after all administrative and judicial procedures otherwise available to petitioner for seeking compensation in connection with the arrest have been exhausted, but not later than 2 years after the date as of which—
“(i) the exhaustion requirement is met; or
“(ii) if later, any such petition may first be filed under this section; and
“(C) notwithstanding section 2676 or 2679 of title 28 or any other provision of law;
“(2) a petition for compensation under this section shall be considered by a panel of 3 administrative law judges who shall be—
“(A) qualified by virtue of their background, objectivity, and experience; and
“(B) individuals detailed to the Postal Service, for purposes of this section, on a reimbursable basis;
“(3) the provisions of sections 556 and 557 of title 5 shall apply to any proceeding conducted by a panel of administrative law judges under this section;
“(4) a panel may award such amount to a petitioner as the panel considers appropriate to compensate petitioner for any harm or injury, resulting from petitioner’s wrongful arrest, suffered by—
“(A) the petitioner;
“(B) the petitioner’s spouse, if any; or
“(C) a child of the petitioner, if any; except that not more than a total of $500,000 may be awarded to a petitioner under this section in connection with any particular arrest; and
“(5) compensation awarded under this section—
“(A) shall be payable out of the Postal Service Fund; and
“(B) shall be computed taking into account the nature and degree of the harm or injury suffered, the degree to which the Postal Inspection Service failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent any such wrongful arrest from occurring, any history or pattern of similar wrongful arrests by the Postal Inspection Service, any compensation awarded in any earlier proceeding in connection with petitioner’s arrest, and such other factors as the panel considers appropriate.
“(c) A determination under this section shall not be subject to any administrative or judicial review.
“(d) For purposes of this section—
“(1) the term ‘Judicial Officer’ means the Judicial Officer appointed under section 204;
“(2) the term ‘controlled substance’ has the meaning given such term by section 102(6) of the Controlled Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970;
“(3) the term ‘administrative law judge’ means an administrative law judge appointed under section 3105 of title 5; and
“(4) a confidential informant shall be considered to be ‘paid’ if such informant receives, or is to receive, a monetary or nonmonetary benefit (including any forbearance from a civil or criminal action) for the services involved.”.
(b) Chapter Analysis.—The analysis for chapter 4 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“414. Compensation for certain wrongfully arrested individuals.”. <all>
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