I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1252
To modify the procedures of the Federal courts in certain matters, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 9, 1997
Mr. HYDE (for himself, Mr. COBLE, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. BONO, Mr.
BRYANT, and Mr. GOODLATTE) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To modify the procedures of the Federal courts in certain
matters, 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 Reform Act
of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. 3-JUDGE COURT FOR CERTAIN INJUNCTIONS.
(a) REQUIREMENT OF 3-JUDGE COURT.—Any appli-
cation for an interlocutory or permanent injunction re-
straining the enforcement, operation, or execution of a
State law adopted by referendum shall not be granted by
SEC. 4. PROCEEDINGS ON COMPLAINTS AGAINST JUDICIAL
CONDUCT.
(a) REFERRAL OF PROCEEDINGS TO ANOTHER JUDI-
CIAL CIRCUIT OR COURT.—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 shall 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.’’.
(b) 
DISCLOSURE
OF
INFORMATION.—Section
372(c)(14) of title 28, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ after
the semicolon;
(2) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period
at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
(3) by adding after subparagraph (C) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(D) such disclosure is made to another agency
or instrumentality of any governmental jurisdiction
within or under the control the United States for a
civil or criminal law enforcement activity authorized
by law.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
subsection (a) apply to complaints filed on or after the
180th day after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON COURT-IMPOSED TAXES.
(a) LIMITATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 85 of title 28, Unit-
ed States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
‘‘§ 1369. Limitation on Federal court remedies
‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON COURT-IMPOSED TAXES.—(1)
No district court may enter any order or approve any set-
tlement that requires any State, or political subdivision of
a State, to impose, increase, levy, or assess any tax for
the purpose of enforcing any Federal or State common
law, statutory, or constitutional right or law, unless the
court finds by clear and convincing evidence, that—
‘‘(A)(i) there are no other means available to
remedy the deprivation of rights or laws; and
‘‘(ii) the proposed imposition, increase, levying,
or assessment is narrowly tailored to remedy the
specific deprivation at issue;
‘‘(B) the tax will not contribute to or exacer-
bate the deprivation intended to be remedied;
‘‘(C) the proposed tax will not result in a loss
of revenue for the political subdivision in which it is
assessed, levied, or collected;
‘‘(D) the proposed tax will not result in the loss
or depreciation of property values of the taxpayers
who are affected;
‘‘(E) the proposed tax will not conflict with the
applicable laws with respect to the maximum rate of
taxation as determined by the appropriate State or
political subdivision thereof; and
‘‘(F) plans submitted to the court by State and
local authorities will not effectively redress the depri-
vations at issue.
‘‘(2) A finding under paragraph (1) shall be subject
to immediate interlocutory de novo review.
‘‘(3)(A) Notwithstanding any law or rule of proce-
dure, any aggrieved corporation, or unincorporated asso-
ciation or other person residing or present in the political
subdivision in which a tax is imposed in accordance with
paragraph (1) or other entity located within that political
subdivision shall have the right to intervene in any pro-
ceeding concerning the imposition of the tax.
‘‘(B) A person or entity that intervenes pursuant to
subparagraph (A) shall have the right to—
‘‘(i) present evidence and appear before the
court to present oral and written testimony; and
‘‘(ii) appeal any finding required to be made by
this section, or any other related action taken to im-
pose, increase, levy, or assess the tax that is the sub-
ject of the intervention.
‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF ORDERS.—Notwithstanding
any law or rule of procedure, any order of a district court
requiring the imposition, increase, levy, or assessment of
a tax imposed pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall auto-
matically terminate or expire on the date that is—
‘‘(1) 1 year after the date of the imposition of
the tax; or
‘‘(2) an earlier date, if the court determines
that the deprivation of rights that is addressed by
the order has been cured to the extent practicable.
‘‘(c) PREEMPTION.—This section shall not be con-
strued to preempt any law of a State or political subdivi-
sion thereof that imposes limitations on, or otherwise re-
stricts the imposition of, a tax, levy, or assessment that
is imposed in response to a court order referred to in sub-
section (b).
‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS
ON COURT AC-
TION.—(1) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), noth-
ing in this section may be construed to allow a Federal
court to, for the purpose of funding the administration
of an order referred to in subsection (b), use funds ac-
quired by a State or political subdivision thereof from a
tax imposed by the State or political subdivision thereof.
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to any tax, levy,
or assessment that may, in accordance with applicable
State or local law, be used to fund the actions of a State
or political subdivision thereof in meeting the require-
ments of an order referred to in subsection (b).
‘‘(e) NOTICE TO STATES.—The court shall provide
written notice to a State or political subdivision thereof
subject to an order referred to in subsection (b) with re-
spect to any finding required to be made by the court
under subsection (a). Such notice shall be provided before
the beginning of the next fiscal year of that State or politi-
cal subdivision occurring after the order is issued.
‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of this sec-
tion—
‘‘(1) the District of Columbia shall be consid-
ered to be a State; and
‘‘(2) any Act of Congress applicable exclusively
to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be
a statute of the District of Columbia.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents for chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by adding after the item relating to section 1368
the following new item:
‘‘1369. Limitation on Federal court remedies.’’.
(c) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing contained
in this section or the amendments made by this section
shall be construed to, beyond the scope of applicable law,
make legal, validate, or approve the use of a judicial tax,
levy, or assessment by a United States district court.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend-
ments made by this section apply with respect to any ac-
tion or other proceeding in any Federal court that is com-
menced on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 6. REASSIGNMENT OF CASE AS OF RIGHT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 21 of title 28, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing:
‘‘§ 464. Reassignment of cases upon motion by a party
‘‘(a) UPON MOTION.—(1) If all parties on one side
of a civil case to be tried in a United States district court
bring a motion to reassign the case, the case shall be reas-
signed to another appropriate judicial officer. Each side
shall be entitled to one reassignment without cause as a
matter of right.
‘‘(2) If any question arises as to which parties should
be grouped together as a side for purposes of this section,
the chief judge of the court of appeals for the circuit in
which the case is to be tried, or another judge of the court
of appeals designated by the chief judge, shall determine
that question.
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR BRINGING MOTION.—(1)
Subject to paragraph (2), a motion to reassign under this
section shall not be entertained unless it is brought, not
later than 20 days after notice of the original assignment
of the case, to the judicial officer to whom the case is as-
signed for the purpose of hearing or deciding any matter.
Such motion shall be granted if—
‘‘(A) it is presented before trial or hearing be-
gins and before the judicial officer to whom it is pre-
sented has ruled on any substantial issue in the
case, or
‘‘(B) it is presented by consent of the parties on
all sides.
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)—
‘‘(A) a party joined in a civil action after the
initial filing may, with the concurrence of the other
parties on the same side, bring a motion under this
section within 20 days after the service of the com-
plaint on that party;
‘‘(B) a party served with a supplemental or
amended complaint or a third-party complaint in a
civil action may, with the concurrence of the other
parties on the same side, bring a motion under this
section within 20 days after service on that party of
the supplemental, amended, or third-party com-
plaint; and
‘‘(C) rulings in a case by the judicial officer on
any substantial issue before a party who has not
been found in default enters an appearance in the
case shall not be grounds for denying an otherwise
timely and appropriate motion brought by that party
under this section.
‘‘(3) No motion under this section may be brought
by the party or parties on a side in a case if any party
or parties on that side have previously brought a motion
to reassign under this section in that case.
‘‘(c) COSTS OF TRAVEL TO NEW LOCATION.—If a
motion to reassign brought under this section requires a
change in location for purposes of appearing before a
newly assigned judicial officer, the party or parties bring-
ing the motion shall pay the reasonable costs incurred by
the parties on different sides of the case in travelling to
the new location for all matters associated with the case
requiring an appearance at the new location.
‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term
‘appropriate judicial officer’ means—
‘‘(1) a United States magistrate judge in a case
referred to such a magistrate judge; and
‘‘(2) a United States district court judge in any
other case before a United States district court.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents
for chapter 21 of title 28, United States Code, is amended
by adding at the end the following new item:
‘‘464. Reassignment of cases upon motion by a party.’’.
Æ