Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) introduced the “Justice for Victims of Lawless Cities Act” (JVLCA) that enables individuals victimized by violent crime in a so-called “autonomous zone” to sue state and local authorities for compensatory damages.
The proposal refers to areas like Seattles “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” in which Antifa-led rioters took over a six-block square of the citys downtown last month after police abandoned a local precinct station. Authorities re-took the area by force July 1.
“Over its 24-day history, the autonomous zone saw two gun-homicides and four additional shooting victims. All the identified victims were black men — precisely the demographic for whom the CHAZ had claimed to offer protection,” according to City Journal (CJ).
“In the absence of a legitimate police force, armed criminal gangs and untrained anarchist paramilitaries filled the void. Almost every night, gunshots rang through the streets. The first homicide victim was killed in an outburst of gang violence; the second, reportedly unarmed and joyriding in a stolen car, was gunned down by the CHAZ security force, CJ said.
“Lawless autonomous zones have no place in America. Any city or state that tolerates one should be legally on the hook for any tragedies that happen,” Budd said in a statement announcing the bills introduction.
“This bill would be a strong incentive to local jurisdictions to break up any remaining lawless zones or prevent one from being established in the first place,” Budd continued.
The United States is a nation of laws. The first order of government is to secure the blessings of liberty. Any state or city that takes federal funds and fails to enforce the laws should both lose those funds and be liable for the harm they have allowed to occur, including those allowing lawless autonomous zones to be created,” Roy said in the statement.
“Today, Congressman Budd and I have introduced legislation to do just that and help make sure the streets of America can be safe again,” the Texas Republican said.
Their bill creates a private right of action whereby “any individual, or a spouse, parent, or child of such individual (if the individual is deceased or permanently incapacitated), who is the victim of a murder, rape, or any felony (as defined by the state), which occurred in a lawless jurisdiction may bring an action for compensatory damages against a state or a political subdivision of a state in the appropriate federal or state court.”
The JVLCA also requires that states or local jurisdictions accepting a wide variety of federal assistance must agree to waive immunity to litigation brought under the private right of action.
The proposals provisions also enable the owners of businesses damaged Read More From Source
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