[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3145 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3145
To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish a corporation to
advocate on behalf of individuals in noncapital criminal cases before
the Supreme Court of the United States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 7, 2016
Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish a corporation to
advocate on behalf of individuals in noncapital criminal cases before
the Supreme Court of the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Clarence Gideon Full Access to
Justice Act'' or the ``Gideon Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFENDER OFFICE FOR SUPREME COURT ADVOCACY.
(a) In General.--Chapter 201 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 3006A the following:
``Sec. 3006B. Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy
``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `Board' means the Board of Directors
established under subsection (d) for the Office;
``(2) the term `consult' includes, with respect to covered
cases--
``(A) giving advice;
``(B) drafting or editing briefs;
``(C) providing assistance with moot courts; and
``(D) organizing or coordinating the drafting,
editing, and filing of amicus curiae briefs;
``(3) the term `covered case' means a noncapital case
involving an issue of Federal criminal statutory or
constitutional law;
``(4) the term `Director' means the Director of the Office
selected in accordance with subsection (e); and
``(5) the term `Office' means the Defender Office for
Supreme Court Advocacy established under subsection (b).
``(b) Establishment; Purposes.--There is established in the
District of Columbia a private nonmembership nonprofit corporation,
which shall be known as the Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy,
for the purpose of--
``(1) advocating on behalf of individuals in covered cases
before--
``(A) the Supreme Court of the United States; and
``(B) when resources permit, the highest court of a
State; and
``(2) providing assistance to attorneys advocating on
behalf of individuals in covered cases described in paragraph
(1).
``(c) Principal Office.--The Office shall maintain its principal
office in the District of Columbia.
``(d) Board of Directors.--
``(1) In general.--The Office shall have a Board of
Directors consisting of 18 voting members--
``(A) 6 of whom shall be Federal Public Defenders
or Executive Directors of Community Defender
Organizations described in section 3006A, elected by
the Federal Public Defenders and the Executive
Directors of Community Defender Organizations in each
district;
``(B) 6 of whom shall be attorneys from a panel
described in section 3006A(b), elected by the panel
attorney district representatives; and
``(C) 6 of whom shall be State or local public
defenders from geographically diverse States, who shall
be elected by the individuals elected under
subparagraphs (A) and (B) not later than 6 months after
the date of the first meeting of the Board.
``(2) Staggered terms.--
``(A) In general.--A member of the Board shall
serve a term of 4 years, except that the first members
elected to the Board under subparagraph (A) or (B) of
paragraph (1) shall be divided into Class A and Class
B.
``(B) Classes.--Class A and Class B shall each
consist of--
``(i) 3 members elected under paragraph
(1)(A); and
``(ii) 3 members elected under paragraph
(1)(B).
``(C) Terms.--
``(i) Initial terms.--For the initial
members of the Board--
``(I) members of Class A shall
serve a term of 2 years;
``(II) members of Class B shall
serve a term of 4 years; and
``(III) members elected under
paragraph (1)(C) shall serve a term of
4 years.
``(ii) Subsequent terms.--All subsequent
terms shall be for a term of 4 years.
``(D) Membership of each class.--The membership of
each class shall be determined by the members of the
Board at the first meeting of the Board of Directors.
``(E) Vacancies.--Interim elections may be held to
fill any vacancies.
``(3) Bylaws.--The Board shall establish bylaws to govern
the operations of the Office.
``(e) Director.--
``(1) In general.--The Board of Directors shall appoint a
Director for the Office.
``(2) Requirement.--The Director appointed under paragraph
(1) shall not be a member of the Board of Directors.
``(f) General Requirements for Director.--The Director shall be
learned and experienced in the law applicable to Federal criminal
appellate practice.
``(g) Functions of the Office.--
``(1) Grants of petitions for writs of certiorari in the
supreme court of the united states.--
``(A) In general.--On the granting of a petition
for a writ of certiorari by the Supreme Court of the
United States in a covered case, the Office shall--
``(i) consult with any counsel in a covered
case in which the defendant was previously
represented by counsel appointed under section
3006A; and
``(ii) when resources permit, be available
to consult with counsel in any other covered
case.
``(B) Arguing case.--In any covered case, an
attorney described in clause (i) or (ii) of
subparagraph (A) may--
``(i) advocate on behalf of an individual
before the Supreme Court of the United States;
or
``(ii) permit the Office to advocate on
behalf of an individual before the Supreme
Court of the United States.
``(2) Filing of amicus curiae briefs.--The Office may file
an amicus curiae brief--
``(A) in any covered case in the Supreme Court of
the United States; and
``(B) when resources permit, in a covered case in
the highest courts of States.
``(3) Call for the views of the office; leave to
participate in oral argument.--In any covered case--
``(A) upon request by the Supreme Court of the
United States--
``(i) the Office may provide the views of
the Office on the covered case; and
``(ii) an employee of the Office may
participate in oral argument as amicus curiae;
and
``(B) upon request by the highest court of a State,
and when resources permit--
``(i) the Office may provide the views of
the Office on the covered case; and
``(ii) an employee of the Office may
participate in oral argument as amicus curiae.
``(4) Monitoring court decisions and filing petitions for
certiorari.--The Office may--
``(A) monitor issues in covered cases--
``(i) on which the courts of appeals of the
United States are divided; or
``(ii) that involve significant Federal
criminal statutory or constitutional issues;
and
``(B) draft, edit, and file a petition for
certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States on
behalf of an individual seeking review by the Supreme
Court of the United States of a covered case.
``(5) Training.--The Office may provide training to carry
out the purpose and functions of the Office.
``(6) Other functions.--In addition to the functions
described in paragraphs (1) through (5), the Director may
allocate any funds made available to the Office for any other
function that the Director determines is necessary to carry out
the purposes of the Office, including, when resources permit,
advocacy in a covered case before the highest court of a State.
``(h) Employees.--The Director, subject to general policies
established by the Office, has the authority to appoint and remove such
employees of the Office as the Director determines necessary to carry
out the purposes of the Office.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for
chapter 201 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 3006A the following:
``3006B. Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy.''.
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