I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3026
To amend section 372 of title 28, United States Code, to provide that
proceedings on complaints filed with respect to conduct of a judge or
magistrate judge of a court be held by a circuit other than the circuit
within which the judge serves, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 6, 1996
Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee (for himself, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. BONO, Mr.
DUNCAN, 
Mr. 
GEKAS, 
Mr. 
GOODLATTE, 
Mr. 
HEINEMAN, 
Mr.
HOSTETTLER, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SENSENBRENNER,
and Mr. SMITH of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend section 372 of title 28, United States Code, to
provide that proceedings on complaints filed with respect
to conduct of a judge or magistrate judge of a court
be held by a circuit other than the circuit within which
the judge serves, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Judicial Disciplinary
Proceedings Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. PROCEEDINGS ON COMPLAINTS AGAINST JUDICIAL
CONDUCT.
Section 372(c) of title 28, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(c)(1)’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In
the case of a complaint so identified, the chief
judge shall notify the clerk of the court of ap-
peals of the complaint, together with a brief
statement of the facts underlying the complaint.
‘‘(B) Complaints filed under subparagraph (A) in one
judicial circuit will be referred to another judicial circuit
for proceedings under this subsection, in accordance with
a system established by rule by the Judicial Conference,
which prescribes the circuits to which the complaints will
be referred. The Judicial Conference shall establish and
submit to the Congress the system described in the preced-
ing sentence not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this subparagraph.’’;
(2) in paragraph (2)—
(A) by amending the first sentence to read
as follows: ‘‘Upon receipt of a complaint filed or
notice of a complaint identified under para-
graph (1) of this subsection, the clerk shall
promptly transmit such complaint or (in the
case of a complaint identified under paragraph
(1)) the statement of facts underlying the com-
plaint to the chief judge of the circuit assigned
to conduct proceedings on the complaint in ac-
cordance with the system established under
paragraph (1)(B) (hereafter in this subsection
referred to as the ‘chief judge’).’’; and
(B) in the second sentence by inserting ‘‘or
statement of facts underlying the complaint (as
the case may be)’’ after ‘‘copy of the com-
plaint’’;
(3) in paragraph (4)(A) by inserting ‘‘(to which
the complaint or statement of facts underlying the
complaint is referred)’’ after ‘‘the circuit’’;
(4) in paragraph (5)—
(A) in the first sentence by inserting ‘‘to
which the complaint or statement of facts un-
derlying the complaint is referred’’ after ‘‘the
circuit’’; and
(B) in the second sentence by striking ‘‘the
circuit’’ and inserting ‘‘that circuit’’;
(5) in the first sentence of paragraph (15) by
inserting before the period at the end the following:
‘‘in which the complaint was filed or identified under
paragraph (1)’’; and
(6) by amending paragraph (18) to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(18) The Judicial Conference shall prescribe rules,
consistent with the preceding provisions of this sub-
section—
‘‘(A) establishing procedures for the filing of
complaints with respect to the conduct of any judge
of the United States Court of Federal Claims, the
Court of International Trade, or the Court of Ap-
peals for the Federal Circuit, and for the investiga-
tion and resolution of such complaints; and
‘‘(B) establishing a system for referring com-
plaints filed with respect to the conduct of a judge
of any such court to any of the first eleven judicial
circuits or to another court for investigation and res-
olution.
The Judicial Conference shall establish and submit to the
Congress the system described in subparagraph (B) not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
the Judicial Disciplinary Proceedings Act of 1996.’’.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act apply to com-
plaints filed on or after the 180th day after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
Æ