I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 969 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2017 

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York (for himself, Mr. CUMMINGS, and 

Mr. JEFFRIES) introduced the following bill; which was 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. 

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 ‘‘Clarence Gideon Full 

5 Access to Justice Act’’ or the ‘‘Gideon Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFENDER OFFICE FOR SUPREME COURT ADVO2 CACY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 201 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3006A 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 3006B. Defender Office for Supreme Court Advo7 cacy 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Board’ means the Board of Di10 rectors established under subsection (d) for the Of11 fice; 

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘consult’ includes, with respect to 

13 covered cases— 

14 ‘‘(A) giving advice; 

15 ‘‘(B) drafting or editing briefs; 

16 ‘‘(C) providing assistance with moot 

17 courts; and 

18 ‘‘(D) organizing or coordinating the draft19 ing, editing, and filing of amicus curiae briefs; 

20 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered case’ means a noncapital 

21 case involving an issue of Federal criminal statutory 

22 or constitutional law; 

23 ‘‘(4) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 

24 the Office selected in accordance with subsection (e); 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(5) the term ‘Office’ means the Defender Of2 fice for Supreme Court Advocacy established under 

3 subsection (b). 

4 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSES.—There is estab5 lished in the District of Columbia a private nonmember6 ship nonprofit corporation, which shall be known as the 

7 Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy, for the pur8 pose of— 

9 ‘‘(1) advocating on behalf of individuals in cov10 ered cases before— 

11 ‘‘(A) the Supreme Court of the United 

12 States; and 

13 ‘‘(B) when resources permit, the highest 

14 court of a State; and 

15 ‘‘(2) providing assistance to attorneys advo16 cating on behalf of individuals in covered cases de17 scribed in paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(c) PRINCIPAL OFFICE.—The Office shall maintain 

19 its principal office in the District of Columbia. 

20 ‘‘(d) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall have a 

22 Board of Directors consisting of 18 voting mem23 bers— 

24 ‘‘(A) 6 of whom shall be Federal Public 

25 Defenders or Executive Directors of Community 


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1 Defender Organizations described in section 

2 3006A, elected by the Federal Public Defenders 

3 and the Executive Directors of Community De4 fender Organizations in each district; 

5 ‘‘(B) 6 of whom shall be attorneys from a 

6 panel described in section 3006A(b), elected by 

7 the panel attorney district representatives; and 

8 ‘‘(C) 6 of whom shall be State or local 

9 public defenders from geographically diverse 

10 States, who shall be elected by the individuals 

11 elected under subparagraphs (A) and (B) not 

12 later than 6 months after the date of the first 

13 meeting of the Board. 

14 ‘‘(2) STAGGERED TERMS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the 

16 Board shall serve a term of 4 years, except that 

17 the first members elected to the Board under 

18 subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) shall 

19 be divided into Class A and Class B. 

20 ‘‘(B) CLASSES.—Class A and Class B shall 

21 each consist of— 

22 ‘‘(i) 3 members elected under para23 graph (1)(A); and 

24 ‘‘(ii) 3 members elected under para25 graph (1)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(C) TERMS.— 

2 ‘‘(i) INITIAL TERMS.—For the initial 

3 members of the Board— 

4 ‘‘(I) members of Class A shall 

5 serve a term of 2 years; 

6 ‘‘(II) members of Class B shall 

7 serve a term of 4 years; and 

8 ‘‘(III) members elected under 

9 paragraph (1)(C) shall serve a term of 

10 4 years. 

11 ‘‘(ii) SUBSEQUENT TERMS.—All sub12 sequent terms shall be for a term of 4 

13 years. 

14 ‘‘(D) MEMBERSHIP OF EACH CLASS.—The 

15 membership of each class shall be determined 

16 by the members of the Board at the first meet17 ing of the Board of Directors. 

18 ‘‘(E) VACANCIES.—Interim elections may 

19 be held to fill any vacancies. 

20 ‘‘(3) BYLAWS.—The Board shall establish by21 laws to govern the operations of the Office. 

22 ‘‘(e) DIRECTOR.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Directors 

24 shall appoint a Director for the Office. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The Director appointed 

2 under paragraph (1) shall not be a member of the 

3 Board of Directors. 

4 ‘‘(f) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR DIRECTOR.— 

5 The Director shall be learned and experienced in the law 

6 applicable to Federal criminal appellate practice. 

7 ‘‘(g) FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) GRANTS OF PETITIONS FOR WRITS OF

9 CERTIORARI IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE

10 UNITED STATES.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On the granting of a 

12 petition for a writ of certiorari by the Supreme 

13 Court of the United States in a covered case, 

14 the Office shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) consult with any counsel in a cov16 ered case in which the defendant was pre17 viously represented by counsel appointed 

18 under section 3006A; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) when resources permit, be avail20 able to consult with counsel in any other 

21 covered case. 

22 ‘‘(B) ARGUING CASE.—In any covered 

23 case, an attorney described in clause (i) or (ii) 

24 of subparagraph (A) may— 


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1 ‘‘(i) advocate on behalf of an indi2 vidual before the Supreme Court of the 

3 United States; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) permit the Office to advocate on 

5 behalf of an individual before the Supreme 

6 Court of the United States. 

7 ‘‘(2) FILING OF AMICUS CURIAE BRIEFS.—The 

8 Office may file an amicus curiae brief— 

9 ‘‘(A) in any covered case in the Supreme 

10 Court of the United States; and 

11 ‘‘(B) when resources permit, in a covered 

12 case in the highest courts of States. 

13 ‘‘(3) CALL FOR THE VIEWS OF THE OFFICE; 

14 LEAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN ORAL ARGUMENT.—In 

15 any covered case— 

16 ‘‘(A) upon request by the Supreme Court 

17 of the United States— 

18 ‘‘(i) the Office may provide the views 

19 of the Office on the covered case; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) an employee of the Office may 

21 participate in oral argument as amicus cu22 riae; and 

23 ‘‘(B) upon request by the highest court of 

24 a State, and when resources permit— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the Office may provide the views 

2 of the Office on the covered case; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) an employee of the Office may 

4 participate in oral argument as amicus cu5 riae. 

6 ‘‘(4) MONITORING COURT DECISIONS AND FIL7 ING PETITIONS FOR CERTIORARI.—The Office 

8 may— 

9 ‘‘(A) monitor issues in covered cases— 

10 ‘‘(i) on which the courts of appeals of 

11 the United States are divided; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) that involve significant Federal 

13 criminal statutory or constitutional issues; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) draft, edit, and file a petition for cer16 tiorari in the Supreme Court of the United 

17 States on behalf of an individual seeking review 

18 by the Supreme Court of the United States of 

19 a covered case. 

20 ‘‘(5) TRAINING.—The Office may provide train21 ing to carry out the purpose and functions of the Of22 fice. 

23 ‘‘(6) OTHER FUNCTIONS.—In addition to the 

24 functions described in paragraphs (1) through (5), 

25 the Director may allocate any funds made available 


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1 to the Office for any other function that the Direc2 tor determines is necessary to carry out the purposes 

3 of the Office, including, when resources permit, ad4 vocacy in a covered case before the highest court of 

5 a State. 

6 ‘‘(h) EMPLOYEES.—The Director, subject to general 

7 policies established by the Office, has the authority to ap8 point and remove such employees of the Office as the Di9 rector determines necessary to carry out the purposes of 

10 the Office.’’. 

11 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

12 The table of sections for chapter 201 of title 18, United 

13 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat14 ing to section 3006A the following: 

‘‘3006B. Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy.’’. 

Æ 


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