[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9897-S9899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION AND TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 
3569, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page S9898]]

  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 3569) to make improvements in the operation and 
     administration of the Federal courts, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today the Senate has passed the Judicial 
Administration and Technical Amendments Act of 2008, a bill to provide 
important assistance to the men and women who comprise our Federal 
judiciary system. I am pleased the Senate has given its unanimous 
support to this important legislation.
  I thank Senators Schumer and Sessions for moving this bill through 
the Senate. Four years ago, a similar bipartisan measure I introduced 
never moved out of Committee in a Republican Congress. I am glad that, 
in a Democratic Congress, the bill we pass today has not suffered a 
similar fate. I hope the House of Representatives will promptly 
consider this bipartisan measure, and the President will sign it into 
law.
  This bill is intended to improve the administration and efficiency of 
our Federal court system by replacing antiquated processes and 
bureaucratic hurdles with the necessary tools for the 21st century. 
Those who honorably serve on our Federal judiciary do not deserve to 
experience unnecessary bureaucratic delays in fulfilling their 
constitutional duties. Their dedication to defend our Constitution, and 
deliver justice in a neutral and unbiased manner, ought to be met by an 
equal commitment from Congress to provide the tools for them to fulfill 
their critical duties as effectively and efficiently as possible.
  The legislation we pass today contains technical and substantive 
proposals carried over from previous Congresses. It 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. Equally important, the bill takes important steps to ensure 
that no American will be threatened or intimidated from exercising 
their right to serve on a jury.
  Third, in the area of criminal justice, numerous provisions in the 
bill would also clarify existing law to better fulfill Congress's 
original intent or to make technical corrections. In particular, I am 
glad the bill would explicitly authorize the Director of Administrative 
Office to provide goods and services to pretrial defendants and clarify 
similar authority recently made available for postconviction 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.
  I am also pleased that the bill contains a provision, similar to the 
JUDGES Act that I cosponsored in 2003, that would reverse the troubling 
and ill-conceived provisions in the so-called Republican Feeney 
Amendment that limited the number of Federal judges who can serve on 
the Sentencing Commission. Our Federal judges are experts on sentencing 
policy, and I am glad this restoration has been included.
  I thank the organizations that have supported this bill. I am 
especially grateful to the Administrative Office of the Courts who, on 
behalf of the Judicial Conference, sent us policy recommendations from 
the Federal judiciary. Many of those recommendations are included in 
this bill, and I commend them for working so hard to enact this 
measure.
  Our independent judiciary is the envy of the world. Yet in these 
changing times and circumstances, the judiciary needs improvements to 
increase its efficiency and administrative operations. With passage of 
this bill, the Senate has taken an important step to ensure that the 
Federal judiciary has the tools to keep up with the changes and 
challenges of the 21st century.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related 
to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 3569) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                S. 3569

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Judicial 
     Administration and Technical Amendments Act of 2008''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Change in composition of divisions of western district of 
              Tennessee.
Sec. 3. Supplemental attendance fee for petit jurors serving on lengthy 
              trials.
Sec. 4. Authority of district courts as to a jury summons.
Sec. 5. Public drawing specifications for jury wheels.
Sec. 6. Assessment of court technology costs.
Sec. 7. Repeal of obsolete provision in the bankruptcy code relating to 
              certain dollar amounts.
Sec. 8. Investment of court registry funds.
Sec. 9. Magistrate judge participation at circuit conferences.
Sec. 10. Selection of chief pretrial services officers.
Sec. 11. Attorney case compensation maximum amounts.
Sec. 12. Expanded delegation authority for reviewing Criminal Justice 
              Act vouchers in excess of case compensation maximums.
Sec. 13. Repeal of obsolete cross-references to the Narcotic Addict 
              Rehabilitation Act.
Sec. 14. Conditions of probation and supervised release.
Sec. 15. Contracting for services for pretrial defendants and post-
              conviction supervision offenders.
Sec. 16. Judge members of U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Sec. 17. Penalty for failure to appear for jury summons.
Sec. 18. Place of holding court for the District of Minnesota.
Sec. 19. Penalty for employers who retaliate against employees serving 
              on jury duty.

     SEC. 2. CHANGE IN COMPOSITION OF DIVISIONS OF WESTERN 
                   DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE.

       (a) In General.--Section 123(c) of title 28, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) by inserting ``Dyer,'' after ``Decatur,''; and
       (B) in the last sentence by inserting ``and Dyersburg'' 
     after ``Jackson''; and
       (2) in paragraph (2)--
       (A) by striking ``Dyer,''; and
       (B) in the second sentence, by striking ``and Dyersburg''.
       (b) Effective Date.--
       (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall 
     take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
       (2) Pending cases not affected.--The amendments made by 
     this section shall not affect any action commenced before the 
     effective date of this section and pending in the United 
     States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee 
     on such date.
       (3) Juries not affected.--The amendments made by this 
     section shall not affect the composition, or preclude the 
     service, of any grand or petit jury summoned, impaneled, or 
     actually serving in the United States District Court for the 
     Western District of Tennessee on the effective date of this 
     section.

     SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL ATTENDANCE FEE FOR PETIT JURORS SERVING 
                   ON LENGTHY TRIALS.

       (a) In General.--Section 1871(b)(2) of title 28, United 
     States Code, is amended by striking ``thirty'' in each place 
     it occurs and inserting ``ten''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on October 1, 2009.

[[Page S9899]]

     SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF DISTRICT COURTS AS TO A JURY SUMMONS.

       Section 1866(g) of title 28, United States Code, is amended 
     in the first sentence--
       (1) by striking ``shall'' and inserting ``may''; and
       (2) by striking ``his''.

     SEC. 5. PUBLIC DRAWING SPECIFICATIONS FOR JURY WHEELS.

       (a) Drawing of Names From Jury Wheel.--Section 1864(a) of 
     title 28, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``publicly''; and
       (2) by inserting ``The clerk or jury commission shall post 
     a general notice for public review in the clerk's office and 
     on the court's website explaining the process by which names 
     are periodically and randomly drawn.'' after the first 
     sentence.
       (b) Selection and Summoning of Jury Panels.--Section 
     1866(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in the second sentence, by striking ``publicly''; and
       (2) by inserting ``The clerk or jury commission shall post 
     a general notice for public review in the clerk's office and 
     on the court's website explaining the process by which names 
     are periodically and randomly drawn.'' after the second 
     sentence.
       (c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section 1869 of 
     title 28, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (j), by adding ``and'' at the end;
       (2) by striking subsection (k); and
       (3) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection (k).

     SEC. 6. ASSESSMENT OF COURT TECHNOLOGY COSTS.

       Section 1920 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``of the court reporter 
     for all or any part of the stenographic transcript'' and 
     inserting ``for printed or electronically recorded 
     transcripts''; and
       (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ``copies of papers'' and 
     inserting ``the costs of making copies of any materials where 
     the copies are''.

     SEC. 7. REPEAL OF OBSOLETE PROVISION IN THE BANKRUPTCY CODE 
                   RELATING TO CERTAIN DOLLAR AMOUNTS.

       Section 104 of title 11, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by striking subsection (a);
       (2) by redesignating subsection (b)(1) as subsection (a) 
     and subparagraphs (A) and (B) of that subsection as 
     paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively;
       (3) by redesignating subsection (b)(2) as subsection (b);
       (4) by redesignating subsection (b)(3) as subsection (c); 
     and
       (5) in subsection (c) (as redesignated by paragraph (4) of 
     this section), by striking ``paragraph (1)'' and inserting 
     ``subsection (a)''.

     SEC. 8. INVESTMENT OF COURT REGISTRY FUNDS.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 129 of title 28, United States 
     Code, is amended by inserting after section 2044 the 
     following:

     ``Sec. 2045. Investment of court registry funds

       ``(a) The Director of the Administrative Office of the 
     United States Courts, or the Director's designee under 
     subsection (b), may request the Secretary of the Treasury to 
     invest funds received under section 2041 in public debt 
     securities with maturities suitable to the needs of the 
     funds, as determined by the Director or the Director's 
     designee, and bearing interest at a rate determined by the 
     Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration current 
     market yields on outstanding marketable obligations of the 
     United States of comparable maturity.
       ``(b) The Director may designate the clerk of a court 
     described in section 610 to exercise the authority conferred 
     by subsection (a).''.
       (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of 
     sections for chapter 129 of title 28, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:

``2045. Investment of court registry funds.''.

     SEC. 9. MAGISTRATE JUDGE PARTICIPATION AT CIRCUIT 
                   CONFERENCES.

       Section 333 of title 28, United States Code, is amended in 
     the first sentence by inserting ``magistrate,'' after 
     ``district,''.

     SEC. 10. SELECTION OF CHIEF PRETRIAL SERVICES OFFICERS.

       Section 3152 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
       ``(c) The pretrial services established under subsection 
     (b) of this section shall be supervised by a chief pretrial 
     services officer appointed by the district court. The chief 
     pretrial services officer appointed under this subsection 
     shall be an individual other than one serving under authority 
     of section 3602 of this title.''.

     SEC. 11. ATTORNEY CASE COMPENSATION MAXIMUM AMOUNTS.

       Section 3006A(d)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding ``The compensation maximum amounts provided 
     in this paragraph shall increase simultaneously by the same 
     percentage, rounded to the nearest multiple of $100, as the 
     aggregate percentage increases in the maximum hourly 
     compensation rate paid pursuant to paragraph (1) for time 
     expended since the case maximum amounts were last adjusted.'' 
     at the end.

     SEC. 12. EXPANDED DELEGATION AUTHORITY FOR REVIEWING CRIMINAL 
                   JUSTICE ACT VOUCHERS IN EXCESS OF CASE 
                   COMPENSATION MAXIMUMS.

       (a) Waiving Maximum Amounts.--Section 3006A(d)(3) of title 
     18, United States Code, is amended in the second sentence by 
     inserting ``or senior'' after ``active''.
       (b) Services Other Than Counsel.--Section 3006A(e)(3) of 
     title 18, United States Code, is amended in the second 
     sentence by inserting ``or senior'' after ``active''.
       (c) Counsel for Financially Unable Defendants.--Section 
     3599(g)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended in the 
     second sentence by inserting ``or senior'' after ``active''.

     SEC. 13. REPEAL OF OBSOLETE CROSS-REFERENCES TO THE NARCOTIC 
                   ADDICT REHABILITATION ACT.

       Section 3161(h) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C); and
       (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) through (J) as 
     subparagraphs (B) through (H), respectively;
       (2) by striking paragraph (5); and
       (3) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through (9) as 
     paragraphs (5) through (8), respectively.

     SEC. 14. CONDITIONS OF PROBATION AND SUPERVISED RELEASE.

       (a) Conditions of Probation.--Section 3563(a)(2) of title 
     18, United States Code, is amended by striking ``(b)(2), 
     (b)(3), or (b)(13),'' and inserting ``(b)(2) or (b)(12), 
     unless the court has imposed a fine under this chapter, or''.
       (b) Supervised Release After Imprisonment.--Section 3583(d) 
     of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking 
     ``section 3563(b)(1)'' and all that follows through 
     ``appropriate.'' and inserting ``section 3563(b) and any 
     other condition it considers to be appropriate, provided, 
     however that a condition set forth in subsection 3563(b)(10) 
     shall be imposed only for a violation of a condition of 
     supervised release in accordance with section 3583(e)(2) and 
     only when facilities are available.''.
       (c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section 
     3563(b)(10) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     inserting ``or supervised release'' after ``probation''.

     SEC. 15. CONTRACTING FOR SERVICES FOR PRETRIAL DEFENDANTS AND 
                   POST-CONVICTION SUPERVISION OFFENDERS.

       (a) Pretrial Service Functions.--Section 3154(4) of title 
     18, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``, and 
     contract with any appropriate public or private agency or 
     person, or expend funds, to monitor and provide treatment as 
     well as nontreatment services to any such persons released in 
     the community, including equipment and emergency housing, 
     corrective and preventative guidance and training, and other 
     services reasonably deemed necessary to protect the public 
     and ensure that such persons appear in court as required'' 
     before the period.
       (b) Duties of Director of Administrative Office of the 
     United States Courts.--Section 3672 of title 18, United 
     States Code, is amended in the seventh undesignated 
     paragraph--
       (1) in the third sentence, by striking ``negotiate and 
     award such contracts'' and inserting ``negotiate and award 
     contracts identified in this paragraph''; and
       (2) in the fourth sentence, by inserting ``to expend funds 
     or'' after ``He shall also have the authority''.

     SEC. 16. JUDGE MEMBERS OF U.S. SENTENCING COMMISSION.

       Section 991(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended 
     in the third sentence by striking ``Not more than'' and 
     inserting ``At least''.

     SEC. 17. PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO APPEAR FOR JURY SUMMONS.

       (a) Section 1864 Summons.--Section 1864(b) of title 28, 
     United States Code, is amended by striking ``$100 or 
     imprisoned not more than three days, or both.'' each place it 
     appears and inserting ``$1,000, imprisoned not more than 
     three days, ordered to perform community service, or any 
     combination thereof.''.
       (b) Section 1866 Summons.--Section 1866(g) of title 28, 
     United States Code, is amended by striking ``$100 or 
     imprisoned not more than three days, or both.'' and inserting 
     ``$1,000, imprisoned not more than three days, ordered to 
     perform community service, or any combination thereof.''.

     SEC. 18. PLACE OF HOLDING COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF 
                   MINNESOTA.

       Section 103(6) of title 28, United States Code, is amended 
     in the second sentence by inserting ``and Bemidji'' before 
     the period.

     SEC. 19. PENALTY FOR EMPLOYERS WHO RETALIATE AGAINST 
                   EMPLOYEES SERVING ON JURY DUTY.

       Section 1875(b)(3) of title 28, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``$1,000 for each violation as to each 
     employee.'' and inserting ``$5,000 for each violation as to 
     each employee, and may be ordered to perform community 
     service.''.

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