‘‘(D) If the court of appeals fails to comply 
with the requirements of this paragraph, the State 
may petition the Supreme Court or a justice thereof 
for a writ of mandamus to enforce the requirements. 
‘‘(5)(A) The time limitations under paragraphs (3) 
and (4) shall apply to an initial application described in 
paragraph (2), any second or successive application de-
scribed in paragraph (2), and any redetermination of an 
application described in paragraph (2) or related appeal 
following a remand by the court of appeals or the Supreme 
Court for further proceedings. 
‘‘(B) In proceedings following remand in the district 
court, time limits running from the time the State files 
its answer under paragraph (3) shall run from the date 
the remand is ordered if further briefing is not required 
in the district court. If there is further briefing following 
remand in the district court, such time limits shall run 
from the date on which a responsive brief is filed or, if 
no timely responsive brief is filed, the date on which such 
brief is due. 
‘‘(C) In proceedings following remand in the court of 
appeals, the time limit specified in paragraph (4)(B) shall 
run from the date the remand is ordered if further briefing 
is not required in the court of appeals. If there is further 
briefing in the court of appeals, the time limit specified
in paragraph (4)(B) shall run from the date on which a 
responsive brief is filed or, if no timely responsive brief 
is filed, from the date on which such brief is due. 
‘‘(6) The failure of a court to meet or comply with 
a time limitation under this subsection shall not be a 
ground for granting relief from a judgment of conviction 
or sentence, nor shall the time limitations under this sub-
section be construed to entitle a capital applicant to a stay 
of execution, to which the applicant would otherwise not 
be entitled, for the purpose of litigating any application 
or appeal. 
‘‘(k) SENTENCING CLAIMS.—A court, justice, or 
judge shall not have jurisdiction to consider an application 
with respect to an error relating to the applicant’s sen-
tence or sentencing that has been found to be harmless 
or not prejudicial in State court proceedings, or that was 
found by a State court to be procedurally barred, unless 
a determination that the error is not structural is contrary 
to clearly established Federal law, as determined by the 
Supreme Court of the United States.’’. 
(b) VICTIMS’ RIGHTS IN HABEAS CASES.—Section 
3771(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: ‘‘The rights established 
for crime victims by this section shall also be extended
in a Federal habeas corpus proceeding arising out of a 
State conviction to victims of the State offense at issue.’’. 
(c) APPLICATION TO PENDING CASES.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The amendment made by 
this section apply to cases pending on the date of 
the enactment of this Act as well as to cases com-
menced on and after that date. 
(2) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
TIME
LIMITS.—In a 
case pending on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, if the amendment made by subsection (a) pro-
vides that a time limit runs from an event or time 
that has occurred before that date, the time limit 
shall instead run from that date. 
SEC. 304. STATISTICS. 
(a) COVERAGE.—Subsection (b)(1) of the first sec-
tion of the Hate Crime Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534 note) 
is amended by inserting ‘‘gender,’’ before ‘‘or ethnicity’’. 
(b) DATA.—Subsection (b)(5) of the first section of 
the Hate Crime Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534 note) is 
amended by inserting ‘‘, including data about crimes com-
mitted by and directed against juveniles’’ after ‘‘data ac-
quired under this section’’.
SEC. 305. STUDY OF INTERSTATE TRACKING OF PERSONS 
CONVICTED OF OR UNDER INVESTIGATION 
FOR CHILD ABUSE. 
(a) STUDY.—The Attorney General, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall 
study the establishment of a nationwide interstate track-
ing system of persons convicted of, or under investigation 
for, child abuse. The study shall include an analysis, along 
with the costs and benefits, of various mechanisms for es-
tablishing an interstate tracking system, and include the 
extent to which existing registries could be used. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall report 
to the Congress the results of the study under this section. 
SEC. 306. ACCESS TO FEDERAL CRIME INFORMATION DATA-
BASES BY EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES FOR CER-
TAIN PURPOSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General of the 
United States shall, upon request of the chief executive 
officer of a State, conduct fingerprint-based checks of the 
national crime information databases (as defined in sec-
tion 534(e)(3)(A) of title 28, United States Code), pursu-
ant to a request submitted by a local educational agency 
or State educational agency in that State, on individuals 
under consideration for employment by the agency in a 
position in which the individual would work with or around
children. Where possible, the check shall include a finger-
print-based check of State criminal history databases. The 
Attorney General and the States may charge any applica-
ble fees for these checks. 
(b) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—An individual 
having information derived as a result of a check under 
subsection (a) may release that information only to an ap-
propriate officer of a local educational agency or State 
educational agency, or to another person authorized by 
law to receive that information. 
(c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—An individual who know-
ingly exceeds the authority in subsection (a), or knowingly 
releases information in violation of subsection (b), shall 
be imprisoned not more than 10 years or fined under title 
18, United States Code, or both. 
(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the terms ‘‘local 
educational agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have 
the meanings given to those terms in section 9101 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7801).