article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Bias Crimes Compensation Act of 1993''. SEC. 2. CIVIL RIGHTS. (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that-- (1) bias-motivated crimes of violence constitute crimes in violation of the victim's right to be free from discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability; (2) State and Federal criminal laws do not adequately protect against the bias element of bias-motivated crimes of violence, which separates these crimes from acts of random violence, nor do those laws adequately provide victims of bias- motivated crimes of violence the opportunity to vindicate their interests; (3) existing bias and discrimination in the criminal justice system often deprive victims of bias-motivated crimes of violence of equal protection of the laws and the redress to which they are entitled; (4) bias-motivated crimes of violence have a substantial adverse effect on interstate commerce, by deterring potential victims from traveling interstate, from engaging in employment in interstate business, and from transacting with business, and in places involved, in interstate commerce; (5) bias-motivated crimes of violence have a substantial adverse effect on interstate commerce, by diminishing national productivity, increasing medical and other costs, and decreasing the supply of and the demand for interstate products; (6) a Federal civil rights claim, as created in this section, is necessary to guarantee equal protection of the laws and to reduce the substantial adverse effects of bias-motivated crimes of violence on interstate commerce; and (7) victims of bias-motivated crimes of violence have a right to equal protection of the laws, including a system of justice that is unaffected by bias or discrimination and that, at every relevant stage, treats such crimes as seriously as other violent crimes. (b) Right.--All individuals within the United States, and the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, shall have the right to be free from bias-motivated crimes of violence. (c) Claim.--Any person, including a person who acts under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State, who deprives an individual of the right secured by subsection (b) shall be liable to the individual injured, in a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction, for compensatory damages of not less than $100,000, punitive damages, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or any combination thereof. (d) Limitation, Procedure, and Rule of Construction.-- (1) Limitation.--Nothing in this section entitles an individual to a claim under subsection (c) for random acts of violence unrelated to bias or for acts that cannot be demonstrated, by a preponderance of the evidence, to be bias- motivated crimes of violence. (2) No prior criminal action.--Nothing in this section requires a prior criminal complaint, prosecution, or conviction to establish the necessary elements of a claim under subsection (c). (3) Concurrent jurisdiction.--The Federal and State courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction over actions brought pursuant to this section. (4) Rule of construction.--Neither section 1367 of title 28 of the United States Code nor subsection (c) of this section shall be construed, by reason of a claim arising under such subsection, to confer on the courts of the United States supplemental jurisdiction of any State law claim seeking the establishment of a divorce, alimony, equitable distribution of marital property, or child custody decree. (e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section-- (1) the term ``bias-motivated'' means committed because of, on the basis of, and due to (at least in part) an animus based on, actual or perceived race, color, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability of the victim; (2) the term ``crime of violence'' means-- (A) an act or series of acts that would constitute State or Federal offense of a kind described in section 16 of title 18, United States Code, and punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment exceeding one year, but excludes an offense against property that presents no serious risk of physical or mental disability injury to an individual; or (B) one or more actions that would constitute such offense but for the relationship between the person who takes such actions and the individual against whom such actions are taken; whether or not such offense or such actions result in criminal charges, prosecution, or conviction and whether or not such actions were taken within the United States or the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States; (3) the term ``disability'' has the meaning given it in section 3(2) of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102(2)); and (4) the term ``special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States'' has the meaning given such term in section 7 of title 18, United States Code. (f) Limitation on Removal.--Section 1445 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(d) A civil action in any State court arising under section 2 of the Bias Crimes Compensation Act of 1993 may not be removed to any district court of the United States.''. (g) Authority To Award Attorney's Fee.--Section 722(b) of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1988(b)) is amended by inserting ``section 2 of the Bias Crimes Compensation Act of 1993,'' after ``Public Law 92-318,''.
summary: Bias Crimes Compensation Act of 1993 - States that all U.S. individuals shall have the right to be free from bias-motivated crimes of violence (crimes arising from differences in race, color, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability). Creates a Federal civil rights claim against anyone who deprives an individual of such right, with compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive or declaratory relief. Provides limitations, procedures, and rules of construction, including the limitation that random acts of violence, as opposed to bias-motivated acts, shall not be a basis for such a claim.