[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 24, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9422-S9423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. Sessions, and Mr. Leahy):
  S. 3569. A bill to make improvements in the operation and 
administration of the Federal courts, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senators Schumer and 
Sessions in introducing a bipartisan bill that would greatly improve 
the administration and efficiency of our Federal court system. The 
Judicial Administration and Technical Amendments Act of 2008 is an 
attempt to assist the Federal judiciary by replacing antiquated 
processes and bureaucratic hurdles with the necessary tools for the 
21st century.
  I previously introduced a court improvement bill in the 108 Congress. 
I hope the bill we introduce today will pass the full Senate with 
unanimous support and not be held up by a Republican objection like the 
similar measure I introduced 4 years ago. I have also supported past 
legislative proposals from the Judicial Conference to improve the 
administration of justice in our Federal courts.
  In recent years, the job of the Federal judge has changed 
considerably. Today, Federal judges at both the trial and appellate 
level are hearing more cases with fewer available judicial resources. 
We have a responsibility to pass legislation that helps them keep up 
with changing times and circumstances.
  Our independent judiciary is the envy of the world, and we must take 
care to protect it. Just as it is the judiciary's duty to deliver 
justice in a neutral and unbiased manner, it is the duty of the 
legislative branch to provide the requisite tools for the women and men 
who honorably serve on our judiciary to ably fulfill their critical 
responsibilities.
  The legislation we introduce today contains technical and substantive 
proposals carried over from previous Congresses. The legislation also 
contains additional proposals that the Federal judiciary believes will 
improve its operations and allow it to continue to serve as a bulwark 
protecting our individual rights and liberties.
  First, the provisions in the bill facilitate and update judicial 
operations. For example, the bill would authorize realignments in the 
place of holding court in specified district courts. It also would 
remove a ``public drawing'' requirement for the selection of names for 
jury wheels, which is now a function performed more efficiently by 
computers. These provisions would add convenience to the men and 
women--who as lawyers, litigants, and jurors--appear before our Federal 
courts.
  Second, the bill contains provisions that would improve judicial 
resource management and strengthen the constitutional protection of 
Americans' right to serve on juries. The bill would make a juror 
eligible to receive a $10 supplemental fee after 10 days of trial 
service instead of 30 days. Juries serve to vindicate the rights of all 
Americans, including the poor, the powerless, and the marginalized. I 
am glad this bill takes steps to ensure that economic hardship will not 
be an obstacle to an individual performing his or her duty to serve on 
a jury.
  No American should be threatened or intimidated from exercising their 
right to serve on a jury. This legislation would strengthen the 
penalties for employers who retaliate against employees serving on jury 
duty. It would do so by increasing the maximum civil penalty for an 
employer who retaliates against an employee serving on jury duty from 
$1,000 to $5,000 and add the potential penalty of community service. 
The bill also provides district courts with the discretion to bring 
into court those individuals who fail to respond to jury summons, 
instead of having their appearance mandated by statute. This 
improvement would empower Federal judges to decide what action is 
appropriate for those who fail to respond to a jury summons.
  Third, in the area of criminal justice, provisions in the bill would 
also clarify existing law to better fulfill Congress's original intent 
or to make technical corrections. The bill makes technical corrections 
to a Federal probation and supervised release statute. By correcting 
these technical errors, we restore the original intent of Congress, 
including that intermittent confinement applies to supervised release 
as well as probation. As a former prosecutor, I am well aware that 
confinement, even intermittent confinement, is not always the 
appropriate response. I am glad that this provision includes the proper 
safeguards and limitations to ensure that intermittent confinement will 
not be abused.
  The legislation would also explicitly authorize the Director of 
Administrative Office to provide goods and services to pretrial 
defendants and clarifies similar authority recently made available for 
post-conviction offenders through the Second Chance Act of 2007. Under 
current law, there is no explicit statutory authority to provide for 
services on behalf of offenders who do not suffer from substance abuse 
problems or psychiatric disorders. This provision would fill in that 
gap by providing services to pretrial defendants to ensure their 
appearance at trial.
  Finally, the bill would ensure sufficient representation by Federal 
judges among the members of the Sentencing Commission. In 2003, House 
Republicans saddled the bipartisan and non-controversial AMBER Alert 
bill with numerous unrelated and ill-conceived

[[Page S9423]]

provisions, collectively known as the ``Feeney Amendment,'' that 
effectively overturned the basic structure of the carefully crafted 
sentencing guideline system. The bill we introduce today contains a 
provision, similar to the JUDGES Act that I cosponsored in 2003, that 
would reverse the provisions in the Feeney Amendment that limited the 
number of Federal judges who can serve on the Sentencing Commission. 
Our Federal judges are experts on sentencing policy, indeed they 
preside over criminal sentencing proceedings daily; I am glad this 
restoration has been included.
  This important legislation has the support of the Administrative 
Office of the Courts, on behalf of the Judicial Conference, and 
senators on both sides of the aisle. Our judiciary needs these 
improvements to increase its efficiency and administrative operations. 
I urge my Senate colleagues to quickly pass this noncontroversial 
legislation.
                                 ______