II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 306 

To establish the National Criminal Justice Commission. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2011 

Mr. WEBB (for himself, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. 

GRAHAM, Mrs. HAGAN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. 

MCCASKILL, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, 

Mr. WARNER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. MENENDEZ, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish the National Criminal Justice Commission. 

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 ‘‘National Criminal Jus5 tice Commission Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) it is in the interest of the Nation to estab9 lish a commission to undertake a comprehensive re10 view of the criminal justice system; 


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1 (2) there has not been a comprehensive study 

2 since the President’s Commission on Law Enforce3 ment and Administration of Justice was established 

4 in 1965; 

5 (3) that commission, in a span of 18 months, 

6 produced a comprehensive report entitled ‘‘The 

7 Challenge of Crime in a Free Society,’’ which con8 tained 200 specific recommendations on all aspects 

9 of the criminal justice system involving Federal, 

10 State, tribal, and local governments, civic organiza11 tions, religious institutions, business groups, and in12 dividual citizens; and 

13 (4) developments over the intervening 45 years 

14 require once again that Federal, State, tribal, and 

15 local governments, civic organizations, religious in16 stitutions, business groups, and individual citizens 

17 come together to review evidence and consider how 

18 to improve the criminal justice system. 

19 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

20 There is established a commission to be known as the 

21 ‘‘National Criminal Justice Commission’’ (referred to in 

22 this Act as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

23 SEC. 4. PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION. 

24 The Commission shall undertake a comprehensive re25 view of the criminal justice system, encompassing current 


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1 Federal, State, local, and tribal criminal justice policies 

2 and practices, and make reform recommendations for the 

3 President, Congress, State, local, and tribal governments. 

4 SEC. 5. REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 

5 (a) GENERAL REVIEW.—The Commission shall un6 dertake a comprehensive review of all areas of the criminal 

7 justice system, including Federal, State, local, and tribal 

8 governments’ criminal justice costs, practices, and policies. 

9 (b) FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—After con10 ducting a review of the United States criminal justice sys11 tem as required by section 5(a), the Commission shall 

12 make findings regarding such review and recommenda13 tions for changes in oversight, policies, practices, and laws 

14 designed to prevent, deter, and reduce crime and violence, 

15 reduce recidivism, improve cost-effectiveness, and ensure 

16 the interests of justice at every step of the criminal justice 

17 system. 

18 (c) PRIOR COMMISSIONS.—The Commission shall 

19 take into consideration the work of prior relevant commis20 sions in conducting its review. 

21 (d) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—In making 

22 its recommendations, the Commission should consider the 

23 financial and human resources of State and local govern24 ments. Recommendations shall not infringe on the legitiVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:54 Feb 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S306.IS S306

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1 mate rights of the States to determine their own criminal 

2 laws or the enforcement of such laws. 

3 (e) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—The Commission shall con4 duct public hearings in various locations around the 

5 United States. 

6 (f) CONSULTATION WITH GOVERNMENT AND NON7 GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall— 

9 (A) closely consult with Federal, State, 

10 local, and tribal government and nongovern11 mental leaders, including State, local, and tribal 

12 law enforcement officials, legislators, public 

13 health officials, judges, court administrators, 

14 prosecutors, defense counsel, victims’ rights or15 ganizations, probation and parole officials, 

16 criminal justice planners, criminologists, civil 

17 rights and liberties organizations, formerly in18 carcerated individuals, professional organiza19 tions, and corrections officials; and 

20 (B) include in the final report required by 

21 subsection (g) summaries of the input and rec22 ommendations of these leaders. 

23 (2) UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMIS24 SION.—To the extent the review and recommenda25 tions required by this section relate to sentencing 


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1 policies and practices for the Federal criminal jus2 tice system, the Commission shall conduct such re3 view and make such recommendations in consulta4 tion with the United States Sentencing Commission. 

5 (g) REPORT.— 

6 (1) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

7 the first meeting of the Commission, the Commis8 sion shall prepare and submit a final report that 

9 contains a detailed statement of findings, conclu10 sions, and recommendations of the Commission to 

11 Congress, the President, State, local, and tribal gov12 ernments. 

13 (2) GOAL OF UNANIMITY.—It is the sense of 

14 the Congress that, given the national importance of 

15 the matters before the Commission, the Commission 

16 should work toward unanimously supported findings 

17 and recommendations. 

18 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report sub19 mitted under this subsection shall be made available 

20 to the public. 

21 (4) VOTES ON RECOMMENDATIONS IN RE22 PORT.—Consistent with paragraph (2), the Commis23 sion shall state the vote total for each recommenda24 tion contained in its report to Congress. 


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1 SEC. 6. MEMBERSHIP. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be com3 posed of 14 members, as follows: 

4 (1) One member shall be appointed by the 

5 President, who shall serve as co-chairman of the 

6 Commission. 

7 (2) One member shall be appointed by the lead8 er of the Senate (majority or minority leader, as the 

9 case may be) of the Republican Party, in consulta10 tion with the leader of the House of Representatives 

11 (majority or minority leader, as the case may be) of 

12 the Republican Party, who shall serve as co-chair13 man of the Commission. 

14 (3) Two members shall be appointed by the sen15 ior member of the Senate leadership of the Demo16 cratic Party, in consultation with the Democratic 

17 leadership of the Committee on the Judiciary. 

18 (4) Two members shall be appointed by the sen19 ior member of the Senate leadership of the Repub20 lican Party, in consultation with the Republican 

21 leadership of the Committee on the Judiciary. 

22 (5) Two members shall be appointed by the sen23 ior member of the leadership of the House of Rep24 resentatives of the Republican Party, in consultation 

25 with the Republican leadership of the Committee on 

26 the Judiciary. 


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1 (6) Two members shall be appointed by the sen2 ior member of the leadership of the House of Rep3 resentatives of the Democratic Party, in consultation 

4 with the Democratic leadership of the Committee on 

5 the Judiciary. 

6 (7) Two members, who shall be State and local 

7 representatives, shall be appointed by the President 

8 in agreement with leader of the Senate (majority or 

9 minority leader, as the case may be) of the Repub10 lican Party and the leader of the House of Rep11 resentatives (majority or minority leader, as the case 

12 may be) of the Republican Party. 

13 (8) Two members, who shall be State and local 

14 representatives, shall be appointed by the President 

15 in agreement with leader of the Senate (majority or 

16 minority leader, as the case may be) of the Demo17 cratic Party and the leader of the House of Rep18 resentatives (majority or minority leader, as the case 

19 may be) of the Democratic Party. 

20 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

21 (1) QUALIFICATIONS.—The individuals ap22 pointed from private life as members of the Commis23 sion shall be individuals with distinguished reputa24 tions for integrity and nonpartisanship who are naVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:33 Feb 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S306.IS S306

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1 tionally recognized for expertise, knowledge, or expe2 rience in such relevant areas as— 

3 (A) law enforcement; 

4 (B) criminal justice; 

5 (C) national security; 

6 (D) prison and jail administration; 

7 (E) prisoner reentry; 

8 (F) public health, including physical and 

9 sexual victimization, drug addiction and mental 

10 health; 

11 (G) victims’ rights; 

12 (H) civil liberties; 

13 (I) court administration; 

14 (J) social services; and 

15 (K) State, local, and tribal government. 

16 (2) DISQUALIFICATION.—An individual shall 

17 not be appointed as a member of the Commission if 

18 such individual possesses any personal financial in19 terest in the discharge of any of the duties of the 

20 Commission. 

21 (3) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed for 

22 the life of the Commission. 

23 (c) APPOINTMENT; FIRST MEETING.— 


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1 (1) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Commis2 sion shall be appointed not later than 45 days after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (2) FIRST MEETING.—The Commission shall 

5 hold its first meeting on the date that is 60 days 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, or not later 

7 than 30 days after the date on which funds are 

8 made available for the Commission, whichever is 

9 later. 

10 (3) ETHICS.—At the first meeting of the Com11 mission, the Commission shall draft appropriate eth12 ics guidelines for commissioners and staff, including 

13 guidelines relating to conflict of interest and finan14 cial disclosure. The Commission shall consult with 

15 the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary 

16 as a part of drafting the guidelines and furnish the 

17 Committees with a copy of the completed guidelines. 

18 (d) MEETINGS; QUORUM; VACANCIES.— 

19 (1) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 

20 the call of the co-chairs or a majority of its mem21 bers. 

22 (2) QUORUM.—Eight members of the Commis23 sion shall constitute a quorum for purposes of con24 ducting business, except that 2 members of the 


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1 Commission shall constitute a quorum for purposes 

2 of receiving testimony. 

3 (3) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commis4 sion shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in 

5 the same manner in which the original appointment 

6 was made. If vacancies in the Commission occur on 

7 any day after 45 days after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, a quorum shall consist of a major9 ity of the members of the Commission as of such 

10 day, so long as at least 1 Commission member cho11 sen by a member of each party, Republican and 

12 Democratic, is present. 

13 (e) ACTIONS OF COMMISSION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission— 

15 (A) shall act by resolution agreed to by a 

16 majority of the members of the Commission 

17 voting and present; and 

18 (B) may establish panels composed of less 

19 than the full membership of the Commission for 

20 purposes of carrying out the duties of the Com21 mission under this title— 

22 (i) which shall be subject to the review 

23 and control of the Commission; and 

24 (ii) any findings and determinations 

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1 ered the findings and determinations of the 

2 Commission unless approved by the Com3 mission. 

4 (2) DELEGATION.—Any member, agent, or staff 

5 of the Commission may, if authorized by the co6 chairs of the Commission, take any action which the 

7 Commission is authorized to take pursuant to this 

8 Act. 

9 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION. 

10 (a) STAFF.— 

11 (1) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Commission 

12 shall have a staff headed by an Executive Director. 

13 The Executive Director shall be paid at a rate estab14 lished for the Certified Plan pay level for the Senior 

15 Executive Service under section 5382 of title 5, 

16 United States Code. 

17 (2) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.—The 

18 co-chairs of the Commission shall designate and fix 

19 the compensation of the Executive Director and, in 

20 accordance with rules agreed upon by the Commis21 sion, may appoint and fix the compensation of such 

22 other personnel as may be necessary to enable the 

23 Commission to carry out its functions, without re24 gard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, 

25 governing appointments in the competitive service, 


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1 and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 

2 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relat3 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates, 

4 except that no rate of pay fixed under this sub5 section may exceed the equivalent of that payable for 

6 a position at level V of the Executive Schedule under 

7 section 5316 of title 5, United States Code. 

8 (3) PERSONNEL AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The executive director 

10 and any personnel of the Commission who are 

11 employees shall be employees under section 

12 2105 of title 5, United States Code, for pur13 poses of chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, 

14 and 90 of that title. 

15 (B) MEMBERS OF COMMISSION.—Subpara16 graph (A) shall not be construed to apply to 

17 members of the Commission. 

18 (4) THE COMPENSATION OF COMMISSIONERS.— 

19 Each member of the Commission may be com20 pensated at not to exceed the daily equivalent of the 

21 annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at 

22 level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 

23 of title 5, United States Code, for each day during 

24 which that member is engaged in the actual per25 formance of the duties of the Commission. All memVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:54 Feb 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S306.IS S306

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1 bers of the Commission who are officers or employ2 ees of the United States, State, or local government 

3 shall serve without compensation in addition to that 

4 received for their services as officers or employees. 

5 (5) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from 

6 their homes or regular places of business in the per7 formance of services for the Commission, members 

8 of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, 

9 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the 

10 same manner as persons employed intermittently in 

11 the Government service are allowed expenses under 

12 section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

13 (b) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—With the ap14 proval of the Commission, the Executive Director may 

15 procure temporary and intermittent services under section 

16 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

17 (c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Upon 

18 the request of the Commission, the head of any Federal 

19 agency may detail, without reimbursement, any of the per20 sonnel of such agency to the Commission to assist in car21 rying out the duties of the Commission. Any such detail 

22 shall not interrupt or otherwise affect the civil service sta23 tus or privileges of the Federal employee. 

24 (d) OTHER RESOURCES.—The Commission shall 

25 have reasonable access to materials, resources, statistical 


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1 data, and other information such Commission determines 

2 to be necessary to carry out its duties from the Library 

3 of Congress, the Department of Justice, the Office of Na4 tional Drug Control Policy, the Department of State, and 

5 other agencies of the executive and legislative branches of 

6 the Federal Government. The co-chairs of the Commission 

7 shall make requests for such access in writing when nec8 essary. 

9 (e) VOLUNTEER SERVICES.—Notwithstanding the 

10 provisions of section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, 

11 the Commission is authorized to accept and utilize the 

12 services of volunteers serving without compensation. The 

13 Commission may reimburse such volunteers for local travel 

14 and office supplies, and for other travel expenses, includ15 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by sec16 tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code. A person pro17 viding volunteer services to the Commission shall be con18 sidered an employee of the Federal Government in per19 formance of those services for the purposes of chapter 81 

20 of title 5 of the United States Code, relating to compensa21 tion for work-related injuries, chapter 171 of title 28 of 

22 the United States Code, relating to tort claims, and chap23 ter 11 of title 18 of the United States Code, relating to 

24 conflicts of interest. 


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1 (f) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

2 may secure directly from any agency of the United States 

3 information necessary to enable it to carry out this Act. 

4 Upon the request of the co-chairs of the Commission, the 

5 head of that department or agency shall furnish that infor6 mation to the Commission. The Commission shall not have 

7 access to sensitive information regarding ongoing inves8 tigations. 

9 (g) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United 

10 States mails in the same manner and under the same con11 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United 

12 States. 

13 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTING.—The Commission 

14 shall issue biannual status reports to Congress regarding 

15 the use of resources, salaries, and all expenditures of ap16 propriated funds. 

17 (i) CONTRACTS.—The Commission is authorized to 

18 enter into contracts with Federal and State agencies, pri19 vate firms, institutions, and individuals for the conduct of 

20 activities necessary to the discharge of its duties and re21 sponsibilities. A contract, lease or other legal agreement 

22 entered into by the Commission may not extend beyond 

23 the date of the termination of the Commission. 


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1 (j) GIFTS.—Subject to existing law, the Commission 

2 may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of serv3 ices or property. 

4 (k) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Adminis5 trator of General Services shall provide to the Commis6 sion, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative support 

7 services necessary for the Commission to carry out its re8 sponsibilities under this Act. These administrative services 

9 may include human resource management, budget, leas10 ing, accounting, and payroll services. 

11 (l) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA AND PUBLIC AC12 CESS TO MEETINGS AND MINUTES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Advisory Com14 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the 

15 Commission. 

16 (2) MEETINGS AND MINUTES.— 

17 (A) MEETINGS.— 

18 (i) ADMINISTRATION.—All meetings of 

19 the Commission shall be open to the pub20 lic, except that a meeting or any portion of 

21 it may be closed to the public if it concerns 

22 matters or information described in section 

23 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code. In24 terested persons shall be permitted to ap25 pear at open meetings and present oral or 


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1 written statements on the subject matter 

2 of the meeting. The Commission may ad3 minister oaths or affirmations to any per4 son appearing before it. 

5 (ii) NOTICE.—All open meetings of 

6 the Commission shall be preceded by time7 ly public notice in the Federal Register of 

8 the time, place, and subject of the meeting. 

9 (B) MINUTES AND PUBLIC AVAIL10 ABILITY.—Minutes of each open meeting shall 

11 be kept and shall contain a record of the people 

12 present, a description of the discussion that oc13 curred, and copies of all statements filed. The 

14 minutes and records of all open meetings and 

15 other documents that were made available to or 

16 prepared for the Commission shall be available 

17 for public inspection and copying at a single lo18 cation in the offices of the Commission. 

19 (m) ARCHIVING.—Not later than the date of termi20 nation of the Commission, all records and papers of the 

21 Commission shall be delivered to the Archivist of the 

22 United States for deposit in the National Archives. 

23 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro25 priated for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 such sums are as 


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1 necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, not to 

2 exceed $7,000,000 per year for each fiscal year, and not 

3 more than $14,000,000 total. None of the funds appro4 priated under this Act may be utilized for international 

5 travel. 

6 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Any sums appropriated under 

7 the subsection (a) shall remain available, without fiscal 

8 year limitation, until expended. 

9 SEC. 9. SUNSET. 

10 The Commission shall terminate 60 days after it sub11 mits its report to Congress. 

Æ 


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