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The EQUALizer Draft Bill Text A BILL To establish equal application of the law, strengthen transparency and accountability in law enforcement, require income-proportionate penalties, and prohibit discriminatory enforcement based on wealth, race, color, creed, status, or property ownership. SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the Equal Justice and Uniform Enforcement Act. SECTION 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. The legislature finds that: 1. Equal protection under law requires that enforcement not vary based on wealth, race, color, creed, political status, property ownership, or personal connections. 2. Public trust in government depends on transparent policing, meaningful oversight, and enforceable remedies for unequal treatment. 3. Fines and penalties that are flat-dollar amounts can punish low-income persons more severely than wealthy persons, undermining fairness; income-based fines are a recognized reform option. 4. Civilian oversight bodies with subpoena power and public reporting authority can improve accountability in policing. The purpose of this Act is to ensure that laws are enforced uniformly, that police accountability is independent and transparent, and that penalties are proportionate to ability to pay. SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this Act: 1. Covered agency means any state, county, municipal, or special law-enforcement agency. 2. Civilian oversight body means an independent public body authorized to investigate law-enforcement conduct. 3. Income-proportionate penalty means a fine or monetary penalty calculated using a person’s verified income and ability to pay. 4. Protected status means race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, disability, political affiliation, property ownership, social status, wealth, or poverty. 5. Law-enforcement action includes stops, searches, citations, arrests, use of force, seizures, and referrals for prosecution. SECTION 4. EQUAL ENFORCEMENT RULE. 1. No covered agency or public official shall enforce a law more harshly or more leniently based on protected status. 2. No officer may consider wealth, occupation, property ownership, political influence, or personal reputation as a basis to avoid enforcement, increase enforcement, or alter the severity of an enforcement action. 3. Any deviation from standard enforcement procedures shall be documented in writing with the specific factual basis for the deviation. SECTION 5. STANDARDIZED POLICING PROCEDURES. 1. Every covered agency shall adopt written, publicly available protocols for traffic stops, detentions, searches, arrests, citations, de-escalation, and use of force. 2. Protocols shall be as objective and specific as practicable. 3. Material deviation from protocol shall trigger automatic review by the civilian oversight body or other independent reviewer. SECTION 6. RECORDING AND REPORTING. 1. All stops, searches, arrests, citations, and uses of force shall be recorded in an electronic system. 2. The record shall include, at minimum: • date, time, and location; • basis for the action; • officer identifier; • outcome of the encounter; • whether force was used; • demographic data collected in a lawful and noninvasive manner; and • whether a complaint was filed. 3. Aggregated data shall be published at least quarterly in anonymized form. SECTION 7. INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT. 1. Each jurisdiction shall establish or designate an independent civilian oversight body. 2. The body shall have authority to: • subpoena documents and witnesses; • investigate complaints; • review internal investigations; • issue public findings; • recommend or impose discipline where authorized by law; and • require written explanations when recommendations are rejected. 3. Members of the body shall not be current employees of any covered agency and shall be selected to ensure independence and community representation. SECTION 8. DISCIPLINE AND REMEDIES. 1. Sustained findings of misconduct shall result in discipline proportionate to the violation. 2. Repeated or serious misconduct may result in suspension, demotion, decertification referral, termination, or criminal referral where appropriate. 3. A pattern of discriminatory enforcement by an officer or agency shall trigger mandatory corrective action, monitoring, and possible loss of funding. SECTION 9. INCOME-PROPORTIONATE FINES. 1. Courts imposing a monetary penalty under this Act shall assess the defendant’s ability to pay. 2. Fines shall be calculated as a percentage of disposable income or another uniform formula approved by rule.