[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9108 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9108

   To amend title 5, United States Code, to create a right of public 
access to certain records relating to the courts of the United States, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 23, 2024

  Mr. Schiff introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
               Committee on Oversight and Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 5, United States Code, to create a right of public 
access to certain records relating to the courts of the United States, 
                        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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Judicial FOIA Expansion Act''.

SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AND THE PRIVACY 
              ACT TO THE JUDICIARY.

    (a) Amendments.--Title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 551--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting after ``the 
                courts of the United States'' the following: ``, except 
                for purposes of sections 552 and 552a'';
                    (B) in paragraph (13), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (C) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) `court of the United States'--
                    ``(A) means--
                            ``(i) a court or other entity in the 
                        judicial branch that receives funds 
                        appropriated by the Financial Services and 
                        General Government Appropriations Act, 
                        including the United States Supreme Court, the 
                        United States Court of Appeals for the Federal 
                        Circuit, the United States Court of 
                        International Trade, the United States Courts 
                        of Appeals, the United States district courts, 
                        the Administrative Office of the United States 
                        Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, the United 
                        States Sentencing Commission, the Federal 
                        defender organizations; and
                            ``(ii) a security or protective service 
                        provided using funds appropriated by the 
                        Financial Services and General Government 
                        Appropriations Act for a Federal courthouse, or 
                        for an officer or employee of the judicial 
                        branch; and
                    ``(B) does not include the Foreign Intelligence 
                Surveillance Court.''; and
            (2) by inserting after section 552b the following new 
        section:
``Sec. 552c. Applicability to the courts of the United States
    ``(a) Applicability of Section 552.--
            ``(1) In general.--In addition to what is required under 
        section 552, the following types of information are subject to 
        a record request with respect to the courts of the United 
        States:
                    ``(A) Any record of attorney disciplinary 
                proceeding or sanction, excluding any case record 
                relating to the deliberation of the disciplinary 
                hearing in accordance with paragraph (2)(A).
                    ``(B) Any complaint, investigation, and order 
                against a judge or other court personnel.
                    ``(C) Meeting calendars and minutes of the Federal 
                Judicial Conference and the membership list for each 
                committee.
                    ``(D) Research and educational material produced by 
                the Federal Judicial Center.
                    ``(E) Any completed jury selection form.
                    ``(F) Any performance report for a judge or 
                personnel.
                    ``(G) Any technical audit or update plan for PACER.
                    ``(H) Any annual report to Congress, including each 
                committee and subcommittee of Congress.
            ``(2) Exemptions.--In addition to the matters described 
        under section 552(b), section 552 does not apply to the 
        following with respect to the courts of the United States:
                    ``(A) Any matter related to an ongoing case.
                    ``(B) Any information not in the possession of the 
                courts of the United States.
            ``(3) Machine-readability.--Any information published or 
        provided under section 552 or 552a by a court of the United 
        States shall be machine-readable (as such term is defined in 
        section 3502 of title 44).
    ``(b) Representation.--The Attorney General shall represent a court 
of the United States in any claim brought under section 552 or section 
552a.''.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section, or any 
amendment made by this section, may be construed as displacing the 
common law right of public access to judicial records.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 to meet the requirements 
of this Act, including the creation of an office to meet such 
requirements within the Administrative Office of the United States 
Courts.
    (d) Severability.--If any provision of this Act, or the application 
thereof, is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Act and 
the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances 
shall not be affected thereby.
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