Title: Gideon Act
Policy area: Law

Summary:
Clarence Gideon Full Access to Justice Act or the Gideon Act
This bill amends the federal criminal code to establish a private, nonmembership, nonprofit corporation to assist and advocate on behalf of individuals in certain noncapital criminal cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and the highest state court.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 969 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 969

 To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish a corporation to 
 advocate on behalf of individuals in noncapital criminal cases before 
    the Supreme Court of the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 7, 2017

 Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York (for himself, Mr. Cummings, and 
Mr. Jeffries) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish a corporation to 
 advocate on behalf of individuals in noncapital criminal cases before 
    the Supreme Court of the United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Clarence Gideon Full Access to 
Justice Act'' or the ``Gideon Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFENDER OFFICE FOR SUPREME COURT ADVOCACY.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 201 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 3006A the following:
``Sec. 3006B. Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `Board' means the Board of Directors 
        established under subsection (d) for the Office;
            ``(2) the term `consult' includes, with respect to covered 
        cases--
                    ``(A) giving advice;
                    ``(B) drafting or editing briefs;
                    ``(C) providing assistance with moot courts; and
                    ``(D) organizing or coordinating the drafting, 
                editing, and filing of amicus curiae briefs;
            ``(3) the term `covered case' means a noncapital case 
        involving an issue of Federal criminal statutory or 
        constitutional law;
            ``(4) the term `Director' means the Director of the Office 
        selected in accordance with subsection (e); and
            ``(5) the term `Office' means the Defender Office for 
        Supreme Court Advocacy established under subsection (b).
    ``(b) Establishment; Purposes.--There is established in the 
District of Columbia a private nonmembership nonprofit corporation, 
which shall be known as the Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy, 
for the purpose of--
            ``(1) advocating on behalf of individuals in covered cases 
        before--
                    ``(A) the Supreme Court of the United States; and
                    ``(B) when resources permit, the highest court of a 
                State; and
            ``(2) providing assistance to attorneys advocating on 
        behalf of individuals in covered cases described in paragraph 
        (1).
    ``(c) Principal Office.--The Office shall maintain its principal 
office in the District of Columbia.
    ``(d) Board of Directors.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Office shall have a Board of 
        Directors consisting of 18 voting members--
                    ``(A) 6 of whom shall be Federal Public Defenders 
                or Executive Directors of Community Defender 
                Organizations described in section 3006A, elected by 
                the Federal Public Defenders and the Executive 
                Directors of Community Defender Organizations in each 
                district;
                    ``(B) 6 of whom shall be attorneys from a panel 
                described in section 3006A(b), elected by the panel 
                attorney district representatives; and
                    ``(C) 6 of whom shall be State or local public 
                defenders from geographically diverse States, who shall 
                be elected by the individuals elected under 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B) not later than 6 months after 
                the date of the first meeting of the Board.
            ``(2) Staggered terms.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A member of the Board shall 
                serve a term of 4 years, except that the first members 
                elected to the Board under subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
                paragraph (1) shall be divided into Class A and Class 
                B.
                    ``(B) Classes.--Class A and Class B shall each 
                consist of--
                            ``(i) 3 members elected under paragraph 
                        (1)(A); and
                            ``(ii) 3 members elected under paragraph 
                        (1)(B).
                    ``(C) Terms.--
                            ``(i) Initial terms.--For the initial 
                        members of the Board--
                                    ``(I) members of Class A shall 
                                serve a term of 2 years;
                                    ``(II) members of Class B shall 
                                serve a term of 4 years; and
                                    ``(III) members elected under 
                                paragraph (1)(C) shall serve a term of 
                                4 years.
                            ``(ii) Subsequent terms.--All subsequent 
                        terms shall be for a term of 4 years.
                    ``(D) Membership of each class.--The membership of 
                each class shall be determined by the members of the 
                Board at the first meeting of the Board of Directors.
                    ``(E) Vacancies.--Interim elections may be held to 
                fill any vacancies.
            ``(3) Bylaws.--The Board shall establish bylaws to govern 
        the operations of the Office.
    ``(e) Director.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Board of Directors shall appoint a 
        Director for the Office.
            ``(2) Requirement.--The Director appointed under paragraph 
        (1) shall not be a member of the Board of Directors.
    ``(f) General Requirements for Director.--The Director shall be 
learned and experienced in the law applicable to Federal criminal 
appellate practice.
    ``(g) Functions of the Office.--
            ``(1) Grants of petitions for writs of certiorari in the 
        supreme court of the united states.--
                    ``(A) In general.--On the granting of a petition 
                for a writ of certiorari by the Supreme Court of the 
                United States in a covered case, the Office shall--
                            ``(i) consult with any counsel in a covered 
                        case in which the defendant was previously 
                        represented by counsel appointed under section 
                        3006A; and
                            ``(ii) when resources permit, be available 
                        to consult with counsel in any other covered 
                        case.
                    ``(B) Arguing case.--In any covered case, an 
                attorney described in clause (i) or (ii) of 
                subparagraph (A) may--
                            ``(i) advocate on behalf of an individual 
                        before the Supreme Court of the United States; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) permit the Office to advocate on 
                        behalf of an individual before the Supreme 
                        Court of the United States.
            ``(2) Filing of amicus curiae briefs.--The Office may file 
        an amicus curiae brief--
                    ``(A) in any covered case in the Supreme Court of 
                the United States; and
                    ``(B) when resources permit, in a covered case in 
                the highest courts of States.
            ``(3) Call for the views of the office; leave to 
        participate in oral argument.--In any covered case--
                    ``(A) upon request by the Supreme Court of the 
                United States--
                            ``(i) the Office may provide the views of 
                        the Office on the covered case; and
                            ``(ii) an employee of the Office may 
                        participate in oral argument as amicus curiae; 
                        and
                    ``(B) upon request by the highest court of a State, 
                and when resources permit--
                            ``(i) the Office may provide the views of 
                        the Office on the covered case; and
                            ``(ii) an employee of the Office may 
                        participate in oral argument as amicus curiae.
            ``(4) Monitoring court decisions and filing petitions for 
        certiorari.--The Office may--
                    ``(A) monitor issues in covered cases--
                            ``(i) on which the courts of appeals of the 
                        United States are divided; or
                            ``(ii) that involve significant Federal 
                        criminal statutory or constitutional issues; 
                        and
                    ``(B) draft, edit, and file a petition for 
                certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States on 
                behalf of an individual seeking review by the Supreme 
                Court of the United States of a covered case.
            ``(5) Training.--The Office may provide training to carry 
        out the purpose and functions of the Office.
            ``(6) Other functions.--In addition to the functions 
        described in paragraphs (1) through (5), the Director may 
        allocate any funds made available to the Office for any other 
        function that the Director determines is necessary to carry out 
        the purposes of the Office, including, when resources permit, 
        advocacy in a covered case before the highest court of a State.
    ``(h) Employees.--The Director, subject to general policies 
established by the Office, has the authority to appoint and remove such 
employees of the Office as the Director determines necessary to carry 
out the purposes of the Office.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 201 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 3006A the following:

``3006B. Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy.''.
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