3.0.0 328 2023-01-11T13:34:49Z 2023-01-11T13:34:49Z Senate S 2017-02-07 115 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2017-02-07T21:06:12Z Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2017 115 968 HR 2017-03-09 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice. Related bill CRS 2017-02-07 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. IntroReferral 2017-02-07 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress B001288 Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] Cory Booker D NJ N Crime and Law Enforcement Civil actions and liability Constitution and constitutional amendments Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation Criminal procedure and sentencing Juvenile crime and gang violence Law enforcement administration and funding Lawyers and legal services Legal fees and court costs State and local courts Crime and Law Enforcement 00 2017-02-07 Introduced in Senate 2017-03-03T16:37:34Z Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2017

This bill states that an indigent individual facing criminal prosecution or juvenile delinquency in a state court is entitled to the effective assistance of counsel, as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, at the state's expense.

It authorizes a federal class action lawsuit against a state for its systemic failure to guarantee the right to effective assistance of counsel. The assistance of counsel is ineffective when a class of individuals demonstrates that counsel's performance was not reasonable under prevailing professional norms.

Additionally, the bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to modify the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. Specifically, it requires a state or local government to consult with public defenders before distributing JAG funds to community organizations and local governments.

]]> Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2017 Display Title Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2017 Official Title as Introduced A bill to enforce the Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of effective counsel at all stages of the adversarial process, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide declaratory and injunctive relief against systemic violations of such right, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2017 Introduced in Senate 2017-02-07T05:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-115s328is/xml/BILLS-115s328is.xml 2017-02-07 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.