[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3729 Referred in Senate (RFS)]


109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3729


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 18, 2006

  Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To provide emergency authority to delay or toll judicial proceedings in 
               United States district and circuit courts.

    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 ``Federal Judiciary Emergency Tolling 
Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY AUTHORITY TO DELAY OR TOLL JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1660. Emergency authority to delay or toll judicial deadlines
    ``(a) Tolling in District Courts.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the event of a natural disaster or 
        other emergency situation requiring the closure of courts or 
        rendering it impracticable for the United States Government or 
        a class of litigants to comply with deadlines imposed by any 
        Federal or State law or rule that applies in the courts of the 
        United States, the chief judge of a district court that has 
        been affected may exercise emergency authority in accordance 
        with this section.
            ``(2) Scope of authority.--(A) The chief judge may enter 
        such order or orders as may be appropriate to delay, toll, or 
        otherwise grant relief from the time deadlines imposed by 
        otherwise applicable laws or rules for such period as may be 
        appropriate for any class of cases pending or thereafter filed 
        in the district court or bankruptcy court of the district.
            ``(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), the authority 
        conferred by this section extends to all laws and rules 
        affecting criminal and juvenile proceedings (including, 
        prearrest, post-arrest, pretrial, trial, and post-trial 
        procedures), civil actions, bankruptcy proceedings, and the 
        time for filing and perfecting an appeal.
            ``(C) The authority conferred by this section does not 
        include the authority to extend--
                    ``(i) any statute of limitation for a criminal 
                action; or
                    ``(ii) any statute of limitation for a civil 
                action, if--
                            ``(I) the claim arises under the laws of a 
                        State; and
                            ``(II) extending the limitations period 
                        would be inconsistent with the governing State 
                        law.
            ``(3) Unavailability of chief judge.--If the chief judge of 
        the district is unavailable, the authority conferred by this 
        section may be exercised by the district judge in regular 
        active service who is senior in commission or, if no such judge 
        is available, by the chief judge of the circuit that includes 
        the district.
            ``(4) Habeas corpus unaffected.--Nothing in this section 
        shall be construed to authorize suspension of the writ of 
        habeas corpus.
    ``(b) Criminal Cases.--In exercising the authority under subsection 
(a) for criminal cases, the court shall consider the ability of the 
United States Government to investigate, litigate, and process 
defendants during and after the emergency situation, as well as the 
ability of criminal defendants as a class to prepare their defenses.
    ``(c) Tolling in Courts of Appeals.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the event of a natural disaster or 
        other emergency situation requiring the closure of courts or 
        rendering it impracticable for the United States Government or 
        a class of litigants to comply with deadlines imposed by any 
        federal or States law or rule that applies in the courts of the 
        United States, the chief judge of a court of appeals that has 
        been affected or that includes a district court so affected may 
        exercise emergency authority in accordance with this section.
            ``(2) Scope of authority.--The chief judge may enter such 
        order or orders as may be appropriate to delay, toll, or 
        otherwise grant relief from the time deadlines imposed by 
        otherwise applicable laws or rules for such period as may be 
        appropriate for any class of cases pending in the court of 
        appeals.
            ``(3) Unavailability of chief judge.--If the chief judge of 
        the circuit is unavailable, the authority conferred by this 
        section may be exercised by the circuit judge in regular active 
        service who is senior in commission.
            ``(4) Habeas corpus unaffected.--Nothing in this section 
        shall be construed to authorize suspension of the writ of 
        habeas corpus.
    ``(d) Issuance of Orders.--The Attorney General or the Attorney 
General's designee may request issuance of an order under this section, 
or the chief judge of a district or of a circuit may act on his or her 
own motion.
    ``(e) Duration of Orders.--An order entered under this section may 
not toll or extend a time deadline for a period of more than 14 days, 
except that, if the chief judge (whether of a district or of a circuit) 
determines that an emergency situation requires additional extensions 
of the period during which deadlines are tolled or extended, the chief 
judge may, with the consent of the judicial council of the circuit, 
enter additional orders under this section in order to further toll or 
extend such time deadline.
    ``(f) Notice.--A court issuing an order under this section--
            ``(1) shall make all reasonable efforts to publicize the 
        order, including announcing the order on the web sites of all 
        affected courts and the web site of the Federal judiciary; and
            ``(2) shall, through the Director of the Administrative 
        Office of the United States Courts, send notice of the order, 
        including the reasons for the issuance of the order, to the 
        Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on 
        the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
    ``(g) Required Reports.--A court issuing one or more orders under 
this section relating to an emergency situation shall, not later than 
180 days after the date on which the last extension or tolling of a 
time period made by the order or orders ends, submit a brief report to 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the House of Representatives, and the Judicial Conference 
of the United States describing the orders, including--
            ``(1) the reasons for issuing the orders;
            ``(2) the duration of the orders;
            ``(3) the effects of the orders on litigants; and
            ``(4) the costs to the judiciary resulting from the orders.
    ``(h) Exceptions.--The notice under subsection (f)(2) and the 
report under subsection (g) are not required in the case of an order 
that tolls or extends a time deadline for a period of less than 14 
days.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following new item:

``1660. Emergency authority to delay or toll judicial deadlines.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 17, 2006.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.