[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 461 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 461

  To amend rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding 
representations made to courts by or on behalf of, and court sanctions 
                 applicable with respect to, prisoners.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 1999

  Mr. Gallegly (for himself, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Royce, Mr. Sherman, Mr. 
 Stump, Mr. Horn, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Rogan, Mr. Bachus, Mr. Hayworth, 
Mr. Ney, Mr. Traficant, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Ehrlich, and Mr. Nethercutt) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding 
representations made to courts by or on behalf of, and court sanctions 
                 applicable with respect to, prisoners.

    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 ``Prisoners Frivolous Lawsuit 
Prevention Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

    Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (28 U.S.C. App.) is 
amended--
            (1) in subdivision (b)(3) by inserting ``are made in a case 
        involving a party other than a prisoner and'' after ``or,'', 
        and
            (2) in subdivision (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``If'' and inserting ``Except as 
                otherwise provided in this subdivision, if'',
                    (B) by inserting after the 1st sentence the 
                following:
``If after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond, the court 
determines in a case involving a party who is a prisoner that 
subdivision (b) has been violated, the court shall, subject to the 
conditions stated below, impose an appropriate sanction upon the 
attorneys, law firms, or parties that have violated subdivision (b) or 
are responsible for the violation.'', and
                    (C) in the first sentence of paragraph (2) by 
                inserting before the period the following: ``, but the 
                limitation specified in this sentence shall not apply 
                in a case involving a party who is a prisoner''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Effective Date.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act 
and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Application of Amendments.--The amendments made by this Act 
shall not apply with respect to conduct occurring before the effective 
date of such amendments.
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