Matthew Lawrence Perna Act of 2025

Matthew Lawrence Perna Act of 2025

This bill limits certain actions by the federal government related to the criminal prosecution and sentencing of individuals who are charged with a political protest offense. A political protest offense is a federal criminal offense that arises out of protest activities and is not a crime of violence. The bill also makes other changes that apply more broadly to curtail certain investigations and prosecutions of federal criminal offenses.

With respect to individuals who are charged with a political protest offense, the bill

• prohibits pretrial detention, 
• generally requires the federal criminal trial to begin within 70 days of being charged or making an initial appearance before the court, and
• expresses the sense of Congress that the sentence imposed should be consistent with the minimum sentence provided by the guideline range applicable to the defendant.

With respect to investigations and prosecutions of federal criminal offenses more broadly, the bill

• makes the United States potentially liable for malicious overprosecution committed by federal investigative or law enforcement officers,
• limits the use of a national security authority (e.g., the Central Intelligence Agency) against a U.S. citizen,
• requires federal agencies to disclose whether the United States is or was investigating or surveilling a U.S. citizen when that information is requested under the Freedom of Information Act, and 
• allows a defendant on trial for a criminal offense in the District of Columbia to change the venue of the trial to the U.S. district court that covers his or her primary residence.