Sponsors
The bill strengthens individual protections and accountability against private impersonation, unlawful stops, and surveillance while expanding federal criminal and civil enforcement—but it also raises litigation and compliance risks for organizations, may chill community safety actions, could interfere with some lawful data uses, and may increase costs to taxpayers and government entities.
Drivers and other individuals (including people with disabilities, immigrants, and urban communities) gain stronger protections against private actors unlawfully stopping, detaining, impersonating, searching, or seizing them.
Victims of prohibited conduct can obtain robust civil remedies—statutory damages (at least $10,000 per violation), compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, attorneys' fees, and a five-year statute of limitations—improving access to remedies and deterrence.
The bill creates federal criminal penalties (including aggravated penalties) for impersonating law enforcement and for related misconduct, deterring impersonation and improving public safety for the general public and drivers.
Nonprofits, small businesses, organizations, and private individuals face greater litigation risk and liability—even where actual harm is minimal—because statutory damages do not require proof of actual losses and broad standards (e.g., 'material support') may apply.
Taxpayers and government budgets could face increased costs from more federal enforcement, prosecutions, oversight, and large damages payouts against government entities.
Community volunteers, neighborhood-watch participants, and ordinary residents may be criminalized or deterred from reporting, intervening, or taking safety actions (e.g., stopping suspicious vehicles) for fear of felony charges, reducing cooperative public safety efforts.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Makes unauthorized private vehicle stops, ID demands, searches, and license-plate surveillance a federal crime and creates a private civil right with at least $10,000 statutory damages per violation.
Introduced February 13, 2026 by Daniel Crenshaw · Last progress February 13, 2026
Makes it a federal crime for private persons or groups to stop, detain, search, demand ID from, or run license-plate/vehicle-ID surveillance on people or vehicles on public roadways without lawful authority, with penalties up to 5 years in prison and higher penalties for violence or targeting federal officers. It also creates a private civil right of action with statutory damages (minimum $10,000 per violation), injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees against individuals, organizations that directed or supported the conduct, and government entities that knowingly permitted or failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it; qualified immunity is barred. The law takes effect immediately on enactment and includes a 5-year statute of limitations for civil suits.