Title: Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act
Policy area: Law

Summary:
Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act of 2021
This bill requires federal judicial officers to file periodic transaction reports disclosing certain securities transactions. The bill also requires online publication of judicial financial disclosure reports.
Specifically, the bill requires federal judicial officers to file reports within 45 days after a purchase, sale, or exchange that exceeds $1,000 in stocks, bonds, commodities futures, and other forms of securities.
Additionally, the bill directs the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to establish a searchable internet database of judicial financial disclosure reports. The office must, within 90 days of the date by which a report must be filed, make the report available on the database in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable format.
The bill does not require the immediate and unconditional availability of reports filed by a judicial officer or employee if the Judicial Conference finds that revealing personal and sensitive formation could endanger that individual or a family member of that individual.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5720 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5720

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide for a periodic 
transaction reporting requirement for Federal judicial officers and the 
online publication of financial disclosure reports of Federal judicial 
                   officers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 25, 2021

 Ms. Ross (for herself, Mr. Issa, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Nadler, 
 and Mr. Roy) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide for a periodic 
transaction reporting requirement for Federal judicial officers and the 
online publication of financial disclosure reports of Federal judicial 
                   officers, 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 ``Courthouse Ethics and Transparency 
Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) recent reports indicate certain Federal judges have 
        failed to recuse themselves from cases and controversies in 
        which the financial interests of the Federal judges are 
        implicated;
            (2) Federal law and the judicial recusal rules applicable 
        to Federal judges require that Federal judges disqualify 
        themselves in any proceeding in which the impartiality of the 
        Federal judges might be reasonably questioned, including 
        instances in which a Federal judge has any financial interest 
        in the subject matter in controversy or in a party to the 
        proceeding;
            (3) litigants and the public have an interest in fair and 
        impartial judicial proceedings, the results and conduct of 
        which avoid any appearance of impropriety; and
            (4) in 2012, the STOCK Act (Public Law 112-105; 126 Stat. 
        291) was enacted, which provides that Members of Congress and 
        Federal officials have a duty of trust and confidentiality to 
        not use information obtained from their official duties for 
        private gain, including the purchase and sale of stocks, bonds, 
        commodities, futures, and other securities.

SEC. 3. PERIODIC TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ONLINE PUBLICATION OF 
              FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS OF FEDERAL JUDICIAL 
              OFFICERS.

    (a) Periodic Transaction Reporting Requirement for Federal Judicial 
Officers.--
            (1) In general.--Section 103(l) of the Ethics in Government 
        Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:
            ``(11) Each judicial officer.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall apply to applicable transactions occurring on or after 
        the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of this 
        Act.
    (b) Online Publication of Financial Disclosure Reports of Federal 
Judicial Officers.--Section 105 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 
(5 U.S.C. App.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 
        (d) and (e), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Online Publication of Financial Disclosure Reports of 
Judicial Officers.--
            ``(1) Establishment of database.--Not later than 180 days 
        after the date of enactment of the Courthouse Ethics and 
        Transparency Act of 2021, the Administrative Office of the 
        United States Courts shall establish a searchable internet 
        database to enable public access to any report required to be 
        filed by a judicial officer under this title.
            ``(2) Availability.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
        on which a report is required to be filed under this title by a 
        judicial officer, the Administrative Office of the United 
        States Courts shall make the report available on the database 
        established under paragraph (1) in a full-text searchable, 
        sortable, and downloadable format for access by the public.
            ``(3) Redaction.--Any report made available on the database 
        established under paragraph (1) shall not contain any 
        information that is redacted in accordance with subsection 
        (b)(3).''.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 103(l) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 
        (5 U.S.C. App.) (as amended by subsection (a)(1)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (9), by striking ``, as defined 
                under section 109(12)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (10), by striking ``, as defined 
                under section 109(13)''.
            (2) Section 105 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 
        U.S.C. App.) (as amended by subsection (b)) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``be 
                revealing'' and inserting ``by revealing''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1)--
                                    (I) in the first sentence, by 
                                striking ``be,,'' and inserting 
                                ``be,''; and
                                    (II) in the third sentence, by 
                                striking ``may be may'' and inserting 
                                ``may be, may''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 
                        ``described in section 109(8) or 109(10) of 
                        this Act'' and inserting ``who is a judicial 
                        officer or a judicial employee''.
            (3) Section 107(a)(1) of the Ethics in Government Act of 
        1978 (5 U.S.C. App) is amended in the last sentence by striking 
        ``and (d)'' and inserting ``and (e)''.
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