1.This Act may be cited as
the Effective Administration of
Criminal Justice Act of 2012
.
2.Effective
administration of criminal justice
(a)Section 502 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3752) is amended—
(1)by inserting
(a) In
General.—
before To request a grant
;
and
(2)by adding at the
end the following:
(6)A comprehensive
State-wide plan detailing how grants received under this section will be used
to improve the administration of the criminal justice system, which
shall—
(A)be designed in
consultation with local governments, and all segments of the criminal justice
system, including judges, prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, corrections
personnel, and providers of indigent defense services, victim services,
juvenile justice delinquency prevention programs, community corrections, and
reentry services;
(B)include a
description of how the State will allocate funding within and among each of the
uses described in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of section 501(a)(1);
(C)describe the
process used by the State for gathering evidence-based data and developing and
using evidence-based and evidence-gathering approaches in support of funding
decisions; and
(D)be updated every
5 years, with annual progress reports that—
(i)address changing
circumstances in the State, if any;
(ii)describe how the
State plans to adjust funding within and among each of the uses described in
subparagraphs (A) through (G) of section 501(a)(1);
(iii)provide an
ongoing assessment of need;
(iv)discuss the
accomplishment of goals identified in any plan previously prepared under this
paragraph; and
(v)reflect how the
plan influenced funding decisions in the previous year.
(b)
(1)Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of
this subsection, the Attorney General shall begin to provide technical
assistance to States and local governments requesting support to develop and
implement the strategic plan required under subsection (a)(6).
(2)Protection of
constitutional rightsNot later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this subsection, the Attorney General shall begin to provide
technical assistance to States and local governments, including any agent
thereof with responsibility for administration of justice, requesting support
to meet the obligations established by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States, which shall include—
(A)public
dissemination of practices, structures, or models for the administration of
justice consistent with the requirements of the Sixth Amendment; and
(B)assistance with
adopting and implementing a system for the administration of justice consistent
with the requirements of the Sixth Amendment.
(3)Authorization
of appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated
$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2017 to carry out this
subsection.
.
(b)Protection of
constitutional rights
(1)It shall be unlawful for any governmental authority, or
any agent thereof, or any person acting on behalf of a governmental authority,
to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by officials or employees of any
governmental agency with responsibility for the administration of justice,
including the administration of programs or services that provide appointed
counsel to indigent defendants, that deprives persons of their rights to
assistance of counsel as protected under the Sixth Amendment and Fourteenth
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
(2)Civil action by
Attorney GeneralWhenever the Attorney General has reasonable
cause to believe that a violation of paragraph (1) has occurred, the Attorney
General, for or in the name of the United States, may, in a civil action,
obtain appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate the pattern or
practice.
(3)Paragraph (2) shall take effect 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act.