I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 568 

To require the Governor of a State to submit to the Attorney General 

an annual report on the number of individuals who represented themselves in court in criminal matters or juvenile delinquency matters, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2019 

Mr. DEUTCH (for himself, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Governor of a State to submit to the Attorney 

General an annual report on the number of individuals 

who represented themselves in court in criminal matters 

or juvenile delinquency matters, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Status of the Sixth 

5 Amendment Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDING. 

7 Congress finds that the Sixth Amendment to the 

8 Constitution of the United States provides that ‘‘In all 


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1 criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to 

2 . . . have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REPORT ON INDIVIDUALS WHO REPRESENT THEM4 SELVES IN CRIMINAL MATTERS OR JUVENILE 

5 DELINQUENCY MATTERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 3 

7 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an8 nually thereafter, the Governor of each State that receives 

9 a grant from the Office of Justice Programs shall submit 

10 to the Attorney General a report which contains, at a min11 imum, the information described in subsection (b)(1) for 

12 each of the categories described in subsection (b)(2) for 

13 the previous year for that State. 

14 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.— 

15 (1) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa16 tion described in this paragraph is as follows: 

17 (A) The number of charges for which an 

18 individual was prosecuted. 

19 (B) The number of charges for which a de20 fendant waived his or her right to counsel. 

21 (C) The number of charges for which a de22 fendant was represented in court by counsel 

23 who was publicly appointed. 


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1 (D) The number of charges for which a de2 fendant was represented in court by counsel 

3 who was not publicly appointed. 

4 (2) OFFENSE CATEGORIES DESCRIBED.—The 

5 categories of offenses described in this paragraph 

6 are as follows: 

7 (A) Criminal offenses for which a term of 

8 imprisonment of more than one year may be 

9 imposed. 

10 (B) Criminal offenses for which a term of 

11 imprisonment of one year or less may be im12 posed, including misdemeanors, traffic viola13 tions, and violations of municipal ordinances. 

14 (C) Acts of juvenile delinquency or juvenile 

15 status offenses for which any term of detention 

16 may be imposed. 

17 (c) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—The Attorney Gen18 eral shall make the reports required under subsection (a) 

19 publicly available on the Internet website of the Depart20 ment of Justice. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS