About the bill
Lynching is extrajudicial murder usually committed by a group of people or a mob, consisting of hanging somebody by a noose or beating someone to death. It’s considered among the most gruesome ways to murder someone. Lynching is primarily associated with whites committing the act against black people in the post-Civil War south.
More than 4,000 black people were lynched between 1877 and 1950. The white perpetrators, if they faced criminal charges at all, were usually acquitted.
What the bill does
The Senate’s three African-American senators, across both parties, have joined together with House colleagues to introduce the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act [S. 3178 and H.R. 6086].
The primary Senate sponsor, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), and the primary House sponsor, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL1), …
Sponsor and status
115th Congress (2017–2019)
This bill was introduced on June 13, 2018, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
68 Cosponsors (65 Democrats, 3 Republicans)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“Rush Statement on the Reopening of the Emmett Till Investigation and Civil Rights Era Crimes”
—
Rep. Bobby Rush [D-IL1, 1993-2022]
(Sponsor)
on Jul 12, 2018
“Senators Introduce Bill to Make Lynching a Federal Crime”
—
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]
on Jun 29, 2018
“Harris, Booker, Scott Introduce Bill to Make Lynching a Federal Crime”
—
Vice President Kamala Harris [D]
on Jun 29, 2018
History
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Jun 13, 2018
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Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber. |
H.R. 6086 (115th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 6086. This is the one from the 115th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 115th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 3, 2019. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
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“H.R. 6086 — 115th Congress: To amend section 249 of title 18, United States Code, to specify lynching as a ….” www.GovTrack.us. 2018. February 9, 2023 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr6086>
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GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
