3.0.0 1377 2022-02-08T23:21:46Z 2022-02-08T23:21:46Z Senate S 2019-05-08 116 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2019-05-08T20:29:00Z EQUAL Defense Act of 2019 116 2868 HR 2019-06-26 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. Identical bill CRS 2019-05-08 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. IntroReferral 2019-05-08 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress H001075 Sen. Harris, Kamala D. [D-CA] Kamala Harris D CA D. N Crime and Law Enforcement Criminal justice information and records Employment and training programs Employment discrimination and employee rights Law enforcement administration and funding Lawyers and legal services Student aid and college costs Wages and earnings Crime and Law Enforcement 00 2019-05-08 Introduced in Senate 2020-08-14T16:02:12Z Ensuring Quality Access to Legal Defense Act of 2019 or the EQUAL Defense Act of 2019

This bill establishes and modifies certain programs that support the delivery of public defense services (i.e., legal services for criminal defendants who cannot afford counsel).

Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to award grants to state and local governments, tribal organizations, and public defender offices for public defense. A grant recipient must use the grant to establish a data collection process, develop workload limits, and satisfy specified compensation requirements (e.g., pay parity between public defenders and prosecutors).

The bill also directs DOJ to award grants to nonprofits and government organizations to train public defenders, court-appointed attorneys, and contract attorneys.

Additionally, a state that receives Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program funds must annually submit to DOJ information related to the legal representation of defendants in criminal cases.

It also reauthorizes through FY2022 the student loan repayment program for prosecutors and public defenders and otherwise revises the program, including by increasing the maximum benefit amount.

]]> EQUAL Defense Act of 2019 Display Title EQUAL Defense Act of 2019 Short Title(s) as Introduced EQUAL Defense Act of 2019 Introduced in Senate IS Short Title(s) as Introduced Ensuring Quality Access to Legal Defense Act of 2019 Introduced in Senate IS Official Title as Introduced A bill to incentivize States and localities to improve access to justice, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Introduced in Senate 2019-05-08T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-116s1377is/xml/BILLS-116s1377is.xml 2019-05-08 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.