[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 33 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 33

To provide that a Federal justice or judge convicted of a felony shall 
 be suspended from office without pay, to amend the retirement age and 
  service requirements for Federal justices and judges convicted of a 
                    felony, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 21, 1997

 Mr. Thurmond introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide that a Federal justice or judge convicted of a felony shall 
 be suspended from office without pay, to amend the retirement age and 
  service requirements for Federal justices and judges convicted of a 
                    felony, 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. PAY AND RETIREMENT OF A FEDERAL JUSTICE OR JUDGE CONVICTED 
              OF A FELONY.

    (a) Suspension Without Pay.--
            (1) Supreme court justices.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 3 of title 28, United 
                States Code, is amended--
                            (i) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``Whenever 
                        the''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following new 
                        subsections:
    ``(b) Justices of the Supreme Court shall hold office during good 
behavior.
    ``(c)(1) For purposes of the tenure or appointment of a justice, 
the term `good behavior' shall not include any offense committed by a 
justice if the conviction of such offense is a felony that--
            ``(A) is punishable by death or imprisonment for a term 
        exceeding one year; and
            ``(B) involves moral turpitude.
    ``(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), a justice convicted of a 
felony described under paragraph (1) shall be suspended from office 
without pay. Such suspension shall be effective on and after the date 
on which the verdict of guilt of such felony is entered.
    ``(B)(i) In the event of reversal of the conviction upon final 
appeal, the justice shall be reinstated with back pay, unless 
impeached.
    ``(ii) If articles of impeachment of the justice are reported to 
the House of Representatives and the final disposition of the articles 
is not a conviction in the Senate, the justice shall be reinstated 
without back pay.''.
                    (B) Technical and conforming amendments.--
                            (i) The section heading for section 3 of 
                        title 28, United States Code, is amended to 
                        read as follows:
``Sec. 3. Vacancy in office of Chief Justice; disability; service by 
              justices during good behavior''.
                            (ii) The table of sections for chapter 1 of 
                        title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
                        amending the item relating to section 3 to read 
                        as follows:

``3. Vacancy in office of Chief Justice; disability; service of 
                            justices during good behavior.''.
            (2) Circuit judges.--Section 44(b) of title 28, United 
        States Code, is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``Circuit judges''; 
                and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
    ``(2)(A) For purposes of the tenure or appointment of a circuit 
judge, the term `good behavior' shall not include any offense committed 
by a circuit judge if the conviction of such offense is a felony that--
            ``(i) is punishable by death or imprisonment for a term 
        exceeding one year; and
            ``(ii) involves moral turpitude.
    ``(B) Subject to subparagraph (C), a circuit judge convicted of a 
felony described under subparagraph (A) shall be suspended from office 
without pay. Such suspension shall be effective on and after the date 
on which the verdict of guilt of such felony is entered.
    ``(C)(i) In the event of reversal of the conviction upon final 
appeal, the circuit judge shall be reinstated with back pay, unless 
impeached.
    ``(ii) If articles of impeachment of the judge are reported to the 
House of Representatives and the final disposition of the articles is 
not a conviction in the Senate, the circuit judge shall be reinstated 
without back pay.''.
            (3) District judges.--Section 134(a) of title 28, United 
        States Code, is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``The district 
                judges''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
    ``(2)(A) For purposes of the tenure or appointment of a district 
judge, the term `good behavior' shall not include any offense committed 
by a judge if the conviction of such offense is a felony that--
            ``(i) is punishable by death or imprisonment for a term 
        exceeding one year; and
            ``(ii) involves moral turpitude.
    ``(B) Subject to subparagraph (C), a district judge convicted of a 
felony described under subparagraph (A) shall be suspended from office 
without pay. Such suspension shall be effective on and after the date 
on which the verdict of guilt of such felony is entered.
    ``(C)(i) In the event of reversal of the conviction upon final 
appeal, the district judge shall be reinstated with back pay, unless 
impeached.
    ``(ii) If articles of impeachment of the judge are reported to the 
House of Representatives and the final disposition of the articles is 
not a conviction in the Senate, the district judge shall be reinstated 
without back pay.''.
    (b) Retirement Age and Service Requirements for Federal Justices 
and Judges Convicted of a Felony.--Section 371(c) of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(c)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if a justice or judge is 
convicted of a felony punishable by death or imprisonment for a term 
exceeding one year and which involves moral turpitude, the age and 
years of service of the justice or judge on the date on which the 
verdict of guilt of such felony is entered, shall be the attained age 
and years of service of the justice or judge for purposes of paragraph 
(1).
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if--
            ``(i) the conviction is reversed upon final appeal, unless 
        the justice or judge is impeached; or
            ``(ii) articles of impeachment of the justice or judge are 
        reported to the House of Representatives and the final 
        disposition of the articles is not a conviction in the 
        Senate.''.
                                 <all>