Presidential DocumentExecutive Order 139772021-01635
Protecting Law Enforcement Officers, Judges, Prosecutors, and Their Families
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Published
January 22, 2021
Signed
January 18, 2021
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 13 (Friday, January 22, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 13 (Friday, January 22, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 6803-6806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01635]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 86 , No. 13 / Friday, January 22, 2021 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 6803]]
Executive Order 13977 of January 18, 2021
Protecting Law Enforcement Officers, Judges,
Prosecutors, and Their Families
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. Under the Constitution and Federal
law, our Government vests in judges, prosecutors, and
law enforcement officers the power to make decisions of
enormous consequence. Because of the importance of
their work, these public servants face unique risks to
their safety and the safety of their families. Some who
face or have received an adverse judicial decision have
sought to intimidate or punish judges and prosecutors
with threats of harm. Moreover, judges, prosecutors,
and law enforcement officers are symbols within our
communities of law and order and may be targeted for
that reason alone. And at times, family members of
public servants have become victims. Last year, a
former litigant before a Federal judge in New Jersey
tragically murdered the judge's 20-year-old son and
critically wounded her husband. Judges, prosecutors,
and law enforcement officers' resiliency in the face of
the danger they regularly face is an inspiration for
all of us in public service.
Judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers
should not have to choose between public service and
subjecting themselves and their families to danger. My
Administration has no higher priorities than preserving
the rule of law in our country and protecting the men
and women who serve under its flag. Accordingly, I am
ordering enhanced protections for judges, prosecutors,
and law enforcement officers. Federal law already
allows Federal and State law enforcement officers to
protect themselves by carrying a concealed firearm, but
the Federal Government can do more to cut the red tape
that Federal law enforcement officers must navigate to
exercise their right. The current threat to Federal
prosecutors also demands an expansion of their ability
to carry a concealed firearm, as allowed under the
Department of Justice's existing authorities. Finally,
the Congress should act expeditiously to adopt
legislation extending the right to carry a concealed
firearm to Federal judges and pass other measures that
will expand our capacity to combat threats of violence
against judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement
officers.
Sec. 2. Removing Obstacles to Federal Law Enforcement
Officers Qualifying For Concealed Carry Under the Law
Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004. (a) It shall
be the policy of the United States to remove any undue
obstacle preventing current or retired Federal law
enforcement officers from carrying a concealed firearm
as allowed under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety
Act of 2004, as amended (18 U.S.C. 926B, 926C) (LEOSA).
(b) The heads of all executive departments and
agencies (agencies) that employ or have employed
qualified law enforcement officers or qualified retired
law enforcement officers, as those terms are defined in
the LEOSA, shall act expeditiously to implement the
policy set by subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The heads of all agencies that employ or have
employed qualified law enforcement officers or
qualified retired law enforcement officers, as those
terms are defined in the LEOSA, shall submit a report
to the President, through the Assistant to the
President for Domestic Policy, within 30 days of the
date of this order, reporting on the implementation of
this order
[[Page 6804]]
and analyzing qualified persons' ability to carry a
concealed firearm under the LEOSA.
(d) The report required by subsection (c) of this
section shall:
(i) identify any obstacles that the agency's qualified law enforcement
officers or qualified retired law enforcement officers presently face in
carrying a concealed firearm under the LEOSA;
(ii) identify any categories of the agency's qualified law enforcement
officers or qualified retired law enforcement officers who are presently
unable to carry a concealed firearm under the LEOSA;
(iii) identify the steps the agency has taken to implement the policy set
by subsection (a) of this section; and
(iv) identify the steps the agency plans to take in the future to implement
the policy set by subsection (a) and explain why it was not possible to
take these steps before the report was submitted.
Sec. 3. Authorizing Concealed Carry By Federal
Prosecutors. (a) Within 30 days of the date of this
order, the Attorney General shall propose a regulation
revising section 0.112 of title 28, Code of Federal
Regulations, to provide that the special deputation as
a Deputy United States Marshal shall be granted upon
request to any Federal prosecutor when the Federal
prosecutor or his or her family members face risk of
harm as a result of the Federal prosecutor's government
service and as appropriate.
(b) The regulation proposed pursuant to this
section shall:
(i) include with the special deputation the power to possess and carry
firearms but not include law enforcement powers such as the power to make
arrests for violations of Federal law and the court-related duties of
United States Marshals; and
(ii) require appropriate training in firearm safety and use as a condition
to any special deputation.
(c) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the
Attorney General shall revise other Department policies
to permit special deputation consistent with
subsections (a) and (b) of this section to the extent
consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 4. Expanding the Federal Government's Protection
of Judges, Prosecutors, and Law Enforcement Officers.
(a) The Attorney General shall direct the Director of
the Marshals Service to prioritize the protection of
Federal judges and Federal prosecutors.
(b) The Attorney General shall prioritize the
investigation and prosecution of Federal crimes
involving actual or threatened violence against judges,
prosecutors, or law enforcement officers or their
family members, if the family member was targeted
because of that person's relation to a judge,
prosecutor, or law enforcement officer.
(c) The Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland
Security shall coordinate a review within the executive
branch to assess the feasibility, as appropriate and
consistent with applicable law, of facilitating the
removal of, or minimizing the availability of,
personally identifiable information appearing in public
sources of judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement
officers employed by the Federal Government, and shall
use the results of this review to inform such persons
of related security vulnerabilities.
(d) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the
Attorney General shall assess the need to revise
subsection 0.111(e) of title 28, Code of Federal
Regulations, to protect Federal prosecutors. If any
revision is needed, the Attorney General shall take
immediate steps to issue a proposed rule that would
amend section 0.111(e) accordingly.
(e) The heads of all agencies shall examine the
extent to which they collect personally identifiable
information from judges, prosecutors, or law
enforcement officers, and as appropriate and consistent
with applicable law, allow such persons to provide a
Post Office box address in lieu of home address
information.
[[Page 6805]]
Sec. 5. Proposing Legislation to Enhance the Protection
of Judges, Prosecutors, and Law Enforcement Officers.
(a) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the
Attorney General shall develop and propose Federal
legislation providing additional protection for judges,
prosecutors, and law enforcement officers.
(b) The proposed legislation described in
subsection (a) of this section shall:
(i) authorize current and former Federal judges and current and former
Federal prosecutors to possess or carry firearms when they or their family
members face risk of harm as a result of their Federal government service,
irrespective of Federal, State, and local laws which may restrict the
possession or carrying of firearms;
(ii) promote the removal and minimization of personally identifiable
information from public websites and records of current and former judges,
prosecutors, and law enforcement officers, as appropriate and as allowed
under the Constitution;
(iii) expand the ability of judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement
officers to use Post Office box addresses in lieu of home address
information;
(iv) authorize additional appropriations and authority for the Department
of Homeland Security, Marshals Service, and Federal Bureau of
Investigation, including appropriations to hire and train additional
personnel and authority for agencies to respond to both civil unrest and
threats to Federal courthouses;
(v) increase penalties for threatened and actual violence against Federal
judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers and their families,
including providing that violence against a Federal judge, prosecutor, or
law enforcement officer's family member shall be punished as though the act
was committed against the Federal judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement
officer if the family member was targeted because of that person's relation
to a Federal judge, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer;
(vi) prevent State and local governments from obstructing the ability of
qualified law enforcement officers and qualified retired law enforcement
officers, as those terms are defined by the LEOSA, from carrying a
concealed firearm pursuant to the LEOSA, including by refusing to issue
identification documents; and
(vii) propose other amendments to strengthen the LEOSA, if appropriate.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
[[Page 6806]]
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 18, 2021.
[FR Doc. 2021-01635
Filed 1-21-21; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 22, 2021.
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