II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3335 

To ensure the effective administration of criminal justice. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 21, 2012 

Mr. LEAHY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure the effective administration of criminal justice. 

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 ‘‘Effective Administra5 tion of Criminal Justice Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUS7 TICE. 

8 (a) STRATEGIC PLANNING.—Section 502 of title I of 

9 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

10 (42 U.S.C. 3752) is amended— 

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

12 ‘‘To request a grant’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(6) A comprehensive State-wide plan detailing 

3 how grants received under this section will be used 

4 to improve the administration of the criminal justice 

5 system, which shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) be designed in consultation with local 

7 governments, and all segments of the criminal 

8 justice system, including judges, prosecutors, 

9 law enforcement personnel, corrections per10 sonnel, and providers of indigent defense serv11 ices, victim services, juvenile justice delinquency 

12 prevention programs, community corrections, 

13 and reentry services; 

14 ‘‘(B) include a description of how the State 

15 will allocate funding within and among each of 

16 the uses described in subparagraphs (A) 

17 through (G) of section 501(a)(1); 

18 ‘‘(C) describe the process used by the State 

19 for gathering evidence-based data and devel20 oping and using evidence-based and evidence21 gathering approaches in support of funding de22 cisions; and 

23 ‘‘(D) be updated every 5 years, with an24 nual progress reports that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) address changing circumstances 

2 in the State, if any; 

3 ‘‘(ii) describe how the State plans to 

4 adjust funding within and among each of 

5 the uses described in subparagraphs (A) 

6 through (G) of section 501(a)(1); 

7 ‘‘(iii) provide an ongoing assessment 

8 of need; 

9 ‘‘(iv) discuss the accomplishment of 

10 goals identified in any plan previously pre11 pared under this paragraph; and 

12 ‘‘(v) reflect how the plan influenced 

13 funding decisions in the previous year. 

14 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) STRATEGIC PLANNING.—Not later than 90 

16 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

17 the Attorney General shall begin to provide technical 

18 assistance to States and local governments request19 ing support to develop and implement the strategic 

20 plan required under subsection (a)(6). 

21 ‘‘(2) PROTECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL

22 RIGHTS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 

23 enactment of this subsection, the Attorney General 

24 shall begin to provide technical assistance to States 

25 and local governments, including any agent thereof 


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1 with responsibility for administration of justice, re2 questing support to meet the obligations established 

3 by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the 

4 United States, which shall include— 

5 ‘‘(A) public dissemination of practices, 

6 structures, or models for the administration of 

7 justice consistent with the requirements of the 

8 Sixth Amendment; and 

9 ‘‘(B) assistance with adopting and imple10 menting a system for the administration of jus11 tice consistent with the requirements of the 

12 Sixth Amendment. 

13 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 

15 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2017 to carry 

16 out this subsection.’’. 

17 (b) PROTECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.— 

18 (1) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—It shall be unlawful 

19 for any governmental authority, or any agent there20 of, or any person acting on behalf of a governmental 

21 authority, to engage in a pattern or practice of con22 duct by officials or employees of any governmental 

23 agency with responsibility for the administration of 

24 justice, including the administration of programs or 

25 services that provide appointed counsel to indigent 


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1 defendants, that deprives persons of their rights to 

2 assistance of counsel as protected under the Sixth 

3 Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment to the 

4 Constitution of the United States. 

5 (2) CIVIL ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

6 Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause 

7 to believe that a violation of paragraph (1) has oc8 curred, the Attorney General, for or in the name of 

9 the United States, may, in a civil action, obtain ap10 propriate equitable and declaratory relief to elimi11 nate the pattern or practice. 

12 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraph (2) shall 

13 take effect 2 years after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act. 

Æ 


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