II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2760

To limit and expedite Federal collateral review of convictions for killing 

a public safety officer. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2004

Mr. KYL (for himself, Mr. HATCH, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. SESSIONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To limit and expedite Federal collateral review of convictions 

for killing a public safety officer. 

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 ‘‘Public Safety Officers’ 

5 Defense Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SUBSTANTIVE LIMITS. 

7 Section 2254 of title 28, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(j) CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF PUBLIC SAFETY OFFI2 CER.—In this subsection, the term ‘public safety of3 ficer’ has the meaning given such term in section 

4 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

5 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b). 

6 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—A court, justice, or judge 

7 shall not have jurisdiction to consider any claim re8 lating to the judgment or sentence in an application 

9 described under paragraph (3), unless the applicant 

10 shows that the claim qualifies for consideration on 

11 the grounds described in subsection (e)(2). Any such 

12 application that is presented to a court, justice, or 

13 judge other than a district court shall be transferred 

14 to the appropriate district court for consideration or 

15 dismissal in conformity with this subsection, except 

16 that a court of appeals panel must authorize any 

17 second or successive application in conformity with 

18 section 2244 prior to any consideration by the dis19 trict court. 

20 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION OF SUBSECTION.—This sub21 section shall apply to an application for a writ of ha22 beas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursu23 ant to the judgment of a State court for a crime 

24 that involved the killing of a public safety officer 

25 while the public safety officer was engaged in the 
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1 performance of official duties, or on account of the 

2 public safety officer’s performance of official du3 ties.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. TIME LIMITS. 

5 Section 2254(j) of title 28, United States Code, as 

6 added by section 2 of this Act, is further amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) TIME LIMITS IN DISTRICT COURT.—For 

9 any application described under paragraph (3), in 

10 the district court the following shall apply: 

11 ‘‘(A) Any motion by either party for an 

12 evidentiary hearing shall be filed and served not 

13 later than 90 days after the State files its an14 swer or, if no timely answer is filed, the date 

15 on which such answer is due. 

16 ‘‘(B) Any motion for an evidentiary hear17 ing shall be granted or denied not later than 30 

18 days after the date on which the party opposing 

19 such motion files a pleading in opposition to 

20 such motion or, if no timely pleading in opposi21 tion is filed, the date on which such pleading in 

22 opposition is due. 

23 ‘‘(C) Any evidentiary hearing shall be— 

24 ‘‘(i) convened not less than 60 days 

25 after the order granting such hearing; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) completed not more than 150 

2 days after the order granting such hearing. 

3 ‘‘(D) A district court shall enter a final 

4 order, granting or denying the application for a 

5 writ of habeas corpus, not later than 15 months 

6 after the date on which the State files its an7 swer or, if no timely answer is filed, the date 

8 on which such answer is due, or not later than 

9 60 days after the case is submitted for decision, 

10 whichever is earlier. 

11 ‘‘(E) If the district court fails to comply 

12 with the requirements of this paragraph, the 

13 State may petition the court of appeals for a 

14 writ of mandamus to enforce the requirements. 

15 The court of appeals shall grant or deny the pe16 tition for a writ of mandamus not later than 30 

17 days after such petition is filed with the court. 

18 ‘‘(5) TIME LIMITS IN COURT OF APPEALS.—For 

19 any application described under paragraph (3), in 

20 the court of appeals the following shall apply: 

21 ‘‘(A) A timely filed notice of appeal from 

22 an order issuing a writ of habeas corpus shall 

23 operate as a stay of that order pending final 

24 disposition of the appeal.
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1 ‘‘(B) The court of appeals shall decide the 

2 appeal from an order granting or denying a 

3 writ of habeas corpus— 

4 ‘‘(i) not later than 120 days after the 

5 date on which the brief of the appellee is 

6 filed or, if no timely brief is filed, the date 

7 on which such brief is due; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) if a cross-appeal is filed, not 

9 later than 120 days after the date on 

10 which the appellant files a brief in re11 sponse to the issues presented by the 

12 cross-appeal or, if no timely brief is filed, 

13 the date on which such brief is due. 

14 ‘‘(C)(i) Following a decision by a panel of 

15 the court of appeals under subparagraph (B), a 

16 petition for panel rehearing is not allowed, but 

17 rehearing by the court of appeals en banc may 

18 be requested. The court of appeals shall decide 

19 whether to grant a petition for rehearing en 

20 banc not later than 30 days after the date on 

21 which the petition is filed, unless a response is 

22 required, in which case the court shall decide 

23 whether to grant the petition not later than 30 

24 days after the date on which the response is 
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1 filed or, if no timely response is filed, the date 

2 on which the response is due. 

3 ‘‘(ii) If rehearing en banc is granted, the 

4 court of appeals shall make a final determina5 tion of the appeal not later than 120 days after 

6 the date on which the order granting rehearing 

7 en banc is entered. 

8 ‘‘(D) If the court of appeals fails to comply 

9 with the requirements of this paragraph, the 

10 State may petition the Supreme Court or a jus11 tice thereof for a writ of mandamus to enforce 

12 the requirements. 

13 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION OF TIME LIMITS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The time limitations 

15 under paragraphs (4) and (5) shall apply to an 

16 initial application described under paragraph 

17 (3), any second or successive application de18 scribed under paragraph (3), and any redeter19 mination of an application described under 

20 paragraph (3) or related appeal following a re21 mand by the court of appeals or the Supreme 

22 Court for further proceedings. 

23 ‘‘(B) REMAND IN DISTRICT COURT.—In 

24 proceedings following remand in the district 

25 court, time limits running from the time the 
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1 State files its answer under paragraph (4) shall 

2 run from the date the remand is ordered if fur3 ther briefing is not required in the district 

4 court. If there is further briefing following re5 mand in the district court, such time limits 

6 shall run from the date on which a responsive 

7 brief is filed or, if no timely responsive brief is 

8 filed, the date on which such brief is due. 

9 ‘‘(C) REMAND IN COURT OF APPEALS.—In 

10 proceedings following remand in the court of 

11 appeals, the time limit specified in paragraph 

12 (5)(B) shall run from the date the remand is 

13 ordered if further briefing is not required in the 

14 court of appeals. If there is further briefing in 

15 the court of appeals, the time limit specified in 

16 paragraph (5)(B) shall run from the date on 

17 which a responsive brief is filed or, if no timely 

18 responsive brief is filed, from the date on which 

19 such brief is due. 

20 ‘‘(7) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—The failure of a 

21 court to meet or comply with a time limitation under 

22 this subsection shall not be a ground for granting 

23 relief from a judgment of conviction or sentence, nor 

24 shall the time limitations under this subsection be 

25 construed to entitle a capital applicant to a stay of 
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1 execution, to which the applicant would otherwise 

2 not be entitled, for the purpose of litigating any ap3 plication or appeal.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. APPLICATION TO PENDING CASES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this 

6 Act shall apply to cases pending on or after the date of 

7 enactment of this Act. 

8 (b) TIME LIMITS.—In a case pending on the date of 

9 enactment of this Act, if the amendments made by this 

10 Act provide that a time limit runs from an event or time 

11 that has occurred prior to such date of enactment, the 

12 time limit shall run instead from such date of enactment.

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