[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1637 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1637

 To clarify appeal time limits in civil actions to which United States 
                   officers or employees are parties.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 3, 2011

 Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Mr. Sessions) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To clarify appeal time limits in civil actions to which United States 
                   officers or employees are parties.

    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 ``Appeal Time Clarification Act of 
2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) section 2107 of title 28, United States Code, and rule 
        4 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure provide that the 
        time to appeal for most civil actions is 30 days, but that the 
        appeal time for all parties is 60 days when the parties in the 
        civil action include the United States, a United States 
        officer, or a United States agency;
            (2) the 60-day period should apply if one of the parties 
        is--
                    (A) the United States;
                    (B) a United States agency;
                    (C) a United States officer or employee sued in an 
                official capacity; or
                    (D) a current or former United States officer or 
                employee sued in an individual capacity for an act or 
                omission occurring in connection with duties performed 
                on behalf of the United States;
            (3) section 2107 of title 28, United States Code, and rule 
        4 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (as amended to 
        take effect on December 1, 2011, in accordance with section 
        2074 of that title) should uniformly apply the 60-day period to 
        those civil actions relating to a Federal officer or employee 
        sued in an individual capacity for an act or omission occurring 
        in connection with Federal duties;
            (4) the civil actions to which the 60-day periods should 
        apply include all civil actions in which a legal officer of the 
        United States represents the relevant officer or employee when 
        the judgment or order is entered or in which the United States 
        files the appeal for that officer or employee; and
            (5) the application of the 60-day period in section 2107 of 
        title 28, United States Code, and rule 4 of the Federal Rules 
        of Appellate Procedure--
                    (A) is not limited to civil actions in which 
                representation of the United States is provided by the 
                Department of Justice; and
                    (B) includes all civil actions in which the 
                representation of the United States is provided by a 
                Federal legal officer acting in an official capacity, 
                such as civil actions in which a Member, officer, or 
                employee of the Senate or the House of Representatives 
                is represented by the Office of Senate Legal Counsel or 
                the Office of General Counsel of the House of 
                Representatives.

SEC. 3. TIME FOR APPEALS TO COURT OF APPEALS.

    Section 2107 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
    ``(b) In any such action, suit, or proceeding, the time as to all 
parties shall be 60 days from such entry if one of the parties is--
            ``(1) the United States;
            ``(2) a United States agency;
            ``(3) a United States officer or employee sued in an 
        official capacity; or
            ``(4) a current or former United States officer or employee 
        sued in an individual capacity for an act or omission occurring 
        in connection with duties performed on behalf of the United 
        States, including all instances in which the United States 
        represents that officer or employee when the judgment, order, 
        or decree is entered or files the appeal for that officer or 
        employee.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendment made by this Act shall take effect on December 1, 
2011.
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