The publication is reproduced in full below:
CRIMINAL JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT OF 2021
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2694) to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for transportation and subsistence for criminal justice defendants, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2694
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 ``Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION AND SUBSISTENCE FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE
ACT DEFENDANTS.
Section 4285 of title 18, United States Code, is amended in the first sentence--
(1) by striking ``when the interests of justice would be served thereby and the United States judge or magistrate judge is satisfied, after appropriate inquiry, that the defendant is financially unable to provide the necessary transportation to appear before the required court on his own'' and inserting ``when the United States judge or magistrate judge is satisfied that the defendant is indigent based on appointment of counsel pursuant to section 3006A, or, after appropriate inquiry, that the defendant is financially unable to provide necessary transportation on his own'';
(2) by striking ``to the place where his appearance is required,'' and inserting ``(1) to the place where each appearance is required and (2) to return to the place of the person's arrest or bona fide residence,''; and
(3) by striking ``to his destination,'' and inserting
``which includes money for both lodging and food, during travel to the person's destination and during any proceeding at which the person's appearance is required''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE USE OF MAGISTRATE JUDGES TO DECIDE
POSTJUDGMENT MOTIONS.
Section 3401 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) in the second sentence, by striking ``and'' after
``trial, judgment,'';
(B) in the second sentence, by inserting ``, and rulings on all post-judgment motions'' after ``sentencing'';
(C) in the third sentence, by striking ``and'' after
``trial, judgment,''; and
(D) in the third sentence, by inserting ``, and rulings on all post-judgment motions'' after ``sentencing'';
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ``, with the approval of a judge of the district court,''; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (i) the following:
``(j) A magistrate judge who exercises trial jurisdiction under this section, in either a petty offense case or a misdemeanor case in which the defendant has consented to a magistrate judge, may also rule on all post-judgment motions in that case, including but not limited to petitions for writs of habeas corpus, writs of coram nobis, motions to vacate a sentence under section 2255 of title 28, and motions related to mental competency under chapter 313 of this title.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Bishop) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
General Leave
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2694.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2694, the Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021, is bipartisan legislation that makes two modest but important amendments to current law, promoting efficient, effective, and fair administration of justice.
The first part of this bill concerns out-of-custody criminal defendants, particularly those who are released pending trial to live in communities that are located far from the courthouses where their cases are being heard.
Most Federal criminal defendants are detained pending trial. The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for housing and transporting them to court hearings, including trial. Under current law, the court may order the marshals to provide funds for a criminal defendant who is released pending trial but cannot afford the cost of travel to the location of the courthouse for required court proceedings.
However, defendants must fund their own way back home, and defendants in this position are not able to receive financial support from the marshals for subsistence, such as lodging and meals. For an indigent defendant, these costs are sometimes insurmountable.
For years, Federal courts have struggled with how to assist indigent defendants when they find themselves in these difficult situations. Unfortunately, the courts' efforts have come up against the text of the statute.
This bill would authorize courts, in the interest of justice, to order the U.S. marshals to cover roundtrip travel and subsistence for defendants who must attend court hearings but who cannot afford to pay this on their own. The Judicial Conference of the United States has urged us to correct this grave unfairness, and I am pleased to see that we are finally doing so with this bill.
The second part of this bill, concerning Federal magistrate judges, is also supported by the Judicial Conference. Magistrate judges have trial jurisdiction over certain misdemeanors, except for Class A misdemeanors, for which the maximum sentence is up to 1 year in custody. With a defendant's consent, however, a magistrate judge may exercise trial jurisdiction over a case involving a Class A misdemeanor. Magistrate judges frequently do so and often hear Class A misdemeanor cases all the way through judgment and sentencing.
{time} 1545
Under current law, a magistrate judge's jurisdiction ends after judgment is entered in a misdemeanor case, and post-judgment jurisdiction reverts to the district court. Indeed, magistrate judges are not authorized to hear post-judgment motions, such as motions to vacate a sentence, even though they are the ones who handled the entire matter at the trial level and are best equipped to hear such post-
judgment motions.
Among other things, this bill would authorize a magistrate judge to hear post-judgment motions in misdemeanor cases in which he or she exercised trial jurisdiction. This amendment clearly improves judicial economy and makes perfect sense.
This is a straightforward and bipartisan measure that will help our criminal justice system operate in a more effective and fair manner. I thank Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Roy for sponsoring this legislation, and I urge all Members to support it.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2694, the Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021.
This bill strengthens existing laws that provide for the transportation and subsistence for indigent criminal defendants when they are brought to court proceedings.
H.R. 2694 also allows a magistrate judge to finally decide post-
judgment motions in a misdemeanor case where that magistrate judge was the judge who handled the underlying case.
This provision will improve the efficiency of our court system by allowing our courts to manage caseloads in a more economical manner.
I thank the bipartisan sponsors of this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2694, the Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021.
This legislation reflects another step in our ongoing work commitment to ensure that justice is administered fairly and equally in this country.
The first part of the bill relates to our Federal pretrial system. I thank Mr. Nadler, our chairman; and, of course, the author of this bill, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries).
As we work on changes to our pretrial system, we must also make certain that indigent defendants who are released on bail pending trial, who live far away from the courthouse in which they must appear, can make it to the court for required appearances.
As the chair of the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee, it is our committee that deals with the criminal justice system and the system that should be fair to victim and alleged perpetrator. That means that individuals who are defendants and are indigent must be able to get to the courthouse in order to assure a fair justice system.
For out-of-custody defendants, the financial and emotional toll of making required court appearances is considerable. It can mean taking time off from sorely needed jobs, sometimes without compensation, or shifting scarce household resources to make it to court on time and to avoid rearrest for failure to appear.
These challenges are heightened for defendants who have cases pending in districts that are far from where they live. This distance can also lead to unnecessary pretrial detention, as courts wrestle with how to ensure that defendants who live out of their districts can make required court appearances. This is a commonsense legislative initiative.
H.R. 2694 gives courts the ability to direct the U.S. marshals to provide for roundtrip travel and subsistence for indigent defendants or those who cannot otherwise afford those costs to attend court during the pendency of their cases.
This is an important step in our work on Federal pretrial reform, and, as I said, common sense in fairness of the system.
The second part of the bill promotes judicial economy by allowing magistrate judges to oversee the entirety of the cases in which they exercised trial jurisdiction. This administrative step is important for our overburdened Federal judiciary and our efforts to fairly administer justice to all individuals. That is certainly the responsibility of those of us on the House Judiciary Committee.
I thank Representative Jeffries for his work on this bill, which I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting today.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2694, the Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021. This legislation reflects another step in our ongoing work and commitment to ensure that justice is administered fairly and equally in this country.
The first part of the bill relates to our federal pretrial system.
As we work on changes to our pretrial system, we must also make certain that indigent defendants who are released on bail pending trial--but live far away from the courthouse in which they must appear--can make it to court for required appearances.
For out-of-custody defendants, the financial and emotional toll of making required court appearances is considerable. It can mean missing time off from sorely needed jobs, sometimes without compensation, or shifting scarce household resources to make it to court on time and to avoid re-arrest for failure to appear.
These challenges are heightened for defendants who have cases pending in districts that are far from where they live. This distance can also lead to unnecessary pretrial detention, as courts wrestle with how to ensure that defendants who live out of their districts can make required court appearances.
H.R. 2694 gives courts the ability to direct the U.S. Marshals to provide for roundtrip travel and subsistence for indigent defendants--
or those who cannot otherwise afford these costs--to attend court during the pendency of their cases. This is an important step in our work on federal pretrial reform.
The second part of the bill promotes judicial economy by allowing magistrate judges to oversee the entirety of the cases in which they exercise trial jurisdiction. This administrative step is important for our overburdened federal judiciary, and our efforts to fairly administer justice to all individuals.
I thank Representative Jeffries for his work on this bill, which I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting today.
Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to improve the administration of justice through our court system by supporting this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, the Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021 would make several critical changes to improve the operation of our Federal criminal justice system.
I commend Representatives Hakeem Jeffries and Chip Roy for introducing the legislation, as well as their bipartisan cosponsors for their leadership in bringing these important issues to our attention.
I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan bill today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2694, the Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021. This legislation reflects another step in our ongoing work and commitment to ensure that justice is administered fairly and equally in this country.
The first part of the bill relates to our federal pretrial system.
As we work on changes to our pretrial system, we must also make certain that indigent defendants who are released on bail pending trial--but live far away from the courthouse in which they must appear--can make it to court for required appearances.
For out-of-custody defendants, the financial and emotional toll of making required court appearances is considerable. It can mean missing time off from sorely needed jobs, sometimes without compensation, or shifting scarce household resources to make it to court on time and to avoid re-arrest for failure to appear.
These challenges are heightened for defendants who have cases pending in districts that are far from where they live. This distance can also lead to unnecessary pretrial detention, as courts wrestle with how to ensure that defendants who live out of their districts can make required court appearances.
H.R. 2694 gives courts the ability to direct the U.S. Marshals to provide for roundtrip travel and subsistence for indigent defendants--
or those who cannot otherwise afford these costs--to attend court during the pendency of their cases. This is an important step in our work on federal pretrial reform.
The second part of the bill promotes judicial economy by allowing magistrate judges to oversee the entirety of the cases in which they exercise trial jurisdiction. This administrative step is important for our overburdened federal judiciary, and our efforts to fairly administer justice to all individuals.
I thank Representative Jeffries for his work on this bill, which I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting today.
Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, everyone--regardless of their financial situation--should be able to fully and fairly defend themselves in court.
Unfortunately, however, many defendants who live very far away from the court trying their case cannot afford to get to and from their court appearances to defend themselves. The costs can be simply insurmountable.
This situation often makes poverty the difference between winning and losing a case, regardless of the facts.
That is not justice.
This bill helps make courtroom justice available to everyone by ensuring that travel and lodging costs are covered for low-income defendants.
This will help ensure justice for all defendants, not just those wealthy enough to afford it.
This bill also makes courtrooms more effective. It allows magistrate judges to rule on certain post-judgment issues that they previously could not adjudicate on cases that they handled at the trial level.
This is common sense. If a case has been with a judge through the entirety of the trial, that judge knows the case best and should be able to handle post-conviction issues.
As a former litigator, I believe this bill will help ensure that justice prevails and make our overburdened court system more efficient, and I thank Congressman Jeffries for introducing this important legislation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2694.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion are postponed.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 108
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
House Representatives' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
Alerts Sign-up