Congressional Record, Volume 158 Issue 145 (Wednesday, November 14, 2012)

[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 145 (Wednesday, November 14, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6353-H6355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

DIRECT REVIEW BY U.S. SUPREME COURT OF DECISIONS OF VIRGIN ISLANDS
SUPREME COURT

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 6116) to amend the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands to
provide for direct appeals to the United States Supreme Court of
decisions of the Virgin Islands Supreme Court.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 6116

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

SECTION 1. DIRECT REVIEW BY U.S. SUPREME COURT OF DECISIONS
OF VIRGIN ISLANDS SUPREME COURT.

Section 23 of the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands
(48 U.S.C. 1613) is amended by striking ``: Provided, That''
and all that follows through the end and inserting a period.

SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OF THE SUPREME COURT.

(a) In General.--Chapter 81 of title 28, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

``Sec. 1260. Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands; certiorari

``Final judgments or decrees rendered by the Supreme Court
of the Virgin Islands may be reviewed by the Supreme Court by
writ of certiorari where the validity of a treaty or statute
of the United States is drawn in question or where the
validity of a statute of the Virgin Islands is drawn in
question on the ground of its being repugnant to the
Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, or
where any title, right, privilege, or immunity is specially
set up or claimed under the Constitution or the treaties or
statutes of, or any commission held or authority exercised
under, the United States.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for
chapter 81 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new item:
``1260. Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands; certiorari.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

The amendments made by this Act apply to cases commenced on
or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Coble) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.

{time} 1250

General Leave

Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous materials on H.R. 6116, as amended, currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Carolina?

[[Page H6354]]

There was no objection.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 6116 authorizes direct review by the United States Supreme Court
of decisions rendered by the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands. I
thank Representative Christensen for her work on this bill.
Created in 2007, the Supreme Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands is the
equivalent of a U.S. State supreme court. It is authorized to review
all final orders, judgments, and specified interlocutory orders of the
Virgin Islands Superior Court.
Appeals from the Virgin Islands Supreme Court are made by petitions
of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Federal statute specifies that discretionary review by the third
circuit exists for the first 15 years following inception of the Virgin
Islands Supreme Court or until it ``has developed sufficient
institutional traditions to justify direct review by the Supreme Court
of the United States from all [of its] final decisions,'' whichever is
sooner.
The third circuit's judicial council, Mr. Speaker, evaluates the
progress of the Virgin Islands Supreme Court in 5-year intervals.
Following extensive review, the council published its initial 5th-year
report last April. The council recommends that the U.S. Supreme Court
exercise direct review of all final decisions made by the Virgin
Islands Supreme Court.
H.R. 6116 adopts the third circuit recommendation. The bill simply
authorizes the U.S. Supreme Court to review, at its discretion, all
final judgments rendered by the Virgin Islands Supreme Court.
The suspension version under consideration makes two technical
changes to the bill as introduced. First, it clarifies that the U.S.
Supreme Court may review final judgments of the Virgin Islands Supreme
Court pursuant to cert petitions. In other words, the U.S. Supreme
Court may exercise its own discretion to accept or reject cases.
Secondly, the suspension version expands the U.S. Supreme Court's
appellate jurisdiction through an additional reference to chapter 81 of
title 28 of the U.S. Code. Chapter 81 sets forth the jurisdiction and
venue of the U.S. Supreme Court. Judges, lawyers, and litigants look to
it when they have questions about the Court's appellate jurisdiction.
The creation of an additional reference to chapter 81 makes it easier
to find the new law.
I again express my thanks to Mrs. Christensen for her work on this
bill, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6116.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6116, as amended. I support
this legislation for several reasons.
To begin with, this bill simply implements the recommendation of the
third circuit judicial council to allow decisions of the Virgin Islands
Supreme Court to be reviewed directly by the United States Supreme
Court. The Virgin Islands Supreme Court is the equivalent of a U.S.
State supreme court. It is authorized to review all final orders,
judgments, and specified interlocutory orders of the Virgin Islands
superior courts. Appeals from the Virgin Islands Supreme Court are made
by petitions of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third
Circuit at this time.
The Revised Organic Act specifically grants the third circuit
appellate jurisdiction for the first 15 years of the Virgin Islands
Supreme Court's existence. In addition, the act requires the third
circuit judicial council to submit reports to two congressional
committees every 5 years assessing whether the Virgin Islands Supreme
Court ``has developed sufficient institutional traditions to justify
direct review by the Supreme Court of the United States from all of its
final decisions.''
In April of this year, the third circuit judicial council submitted
the first of these 5-year reports. In it, the council concluded that
the Virgin Islands Supreme Court had met the standard necessary to
justify direct review of its decisions by the United States Supreme
Court. Accordingly, the council recommended that Congress enact
legislation to allow for such direct review.
H.R. 6116 effectuates the third circuit's recommendations by deleting
from the Revised Organic Act both the provisions granting appellate
jurisdiction to the third circuit and the reporting requirement.
I also support changes reflected in the version of the bill we are
considering today because they reflect input both from the U.S. Supreme
Court and an academic expert. Specifically, the amended version of the
bill requires both the bill's long title and header to section 1 so
that they refer to direct review rather than direct appeals. This
change more accurately reflects the discretionary nature of the U.S.
Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction over most cases whereby it
selects cases for consideration through granting petitions for writs of
certiorari.
Additionally, the amended version of H.R. 6116 adds a provision to
chapter 81 of title 28 of the United States Code to further clarify the
scope of the U.S. Supreme Court's discretionary appellate jurisdiction
with respect to decisions of the Virgin Islands Supreme Court.
Finally, H.R. 6116 is consistent with precedence. For example, in
2004, Congress enacted similar legislation to provide for direct review
by the U.S. Supreme Court of decisions of the Guam Supreme Court.
I congratulate the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands, Dr.
Christensen, for her leadership in this measure. I also thank the
Judiciary Committee chairman, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith), for
his assistance in bringing this legislation to the floor.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Does the gentleman have additional speakers?
Mr. COBLE. I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I would like to yield such time as she may
consume to the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands, Dr. Christensen.
Ms. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Scott, for yielding the time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6116, legislation I
sponsored to provide for direct appeals of decisions of the Virgin
Islands Supreme Court to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I want to begin by thanking the chairman and ranking member of the
Committee on the Judiciary and their staff for working together in a
bipartisan way to swiftly report H.R. 6116 and bring it to the House
floor today. On behalf of the people of the Virgin Islands, I want to
say thank you to Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Conyers, as well as
to my colleagues, Congressman Coble and Congressman Scott, who are
managing the bill on the floor today.
It was just 5 months ago that I had the pleasure of joining the
elected leaders of the Virgin Islands at a ceremony to celebrate the
Virgin Islands Supreme Court reaching a historic milestone.
Specifically, the occasion was to receive the report from the judicial
council of the third circuit regarding their review of the Virgin
Island Supreme Court during its first 5 years, as required by law,
which authorized the Virgin Islands to create a local appellate court.
The third circuit report concluded that the U.S. Virgin Islands
Supreme Court developed sufficient institutional traditions to justify
direct review of its final decisions by the United States Supreme Court
and urged Congress to enact legislation providing that the Supreme
Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands enjoy the same relationship with the
U.S. Supreme Court as the highest court of any State.
Today, the House will take the first step in making the Virgin
Islands Supreme Court just like every other high court in the States
and territories. This is just one more step on the journey for further
local self-governance, which was begun in 1984 when my predecessor,
former Delegate to Congress, Ron de Lugo, amended the Virgin Islands
1954 Organic Act to allow for the creation of an appellate court
chartered under local law, while it took another 20 years for Virgin
Islands Act No. 6687 to be signed into law by then-Governor Charles W.
Turnbull, and 2 more years for a chief justice and two associate
justices to be nominated and confirmed and for the Supreme Court to
formally accept appellate jurisdiction.
Chief Justice Hodge and Associate Justices Cabret and Swan are to be

[[Page H6355]]

commended for the work they did to earn the recommendation of the third
circuit's judicial council for appeals of their decisions to go
directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. In doing so, they are following our
sister territory of Guam, which was the last Supreme Court to gain
direct appeals of their decisions to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Over these past 5 years, the Virgin Islands Supreme Court has issued
opinions on such wide-ranging cases as whether and when a judge could
be disciplined, to affirming in a landmark ruling that women are not
property. By my staff's unofficial count, among the court's many
accomplishments is the issuance of over 180 published opinions since
2007.
Other noteworthy accomplishments include making several structural
reforms in the areas of attorney admissions to the Virgin Islands Bar,
discipline procedures, and mandating new requirements for continuing
legal education courses for all active members of the Virgin Islands
Bar Association.

{time} 1300

I had the pleasure of joining Chief Justice Hodge and Associate
Justices Cabret and Swan at their official swearing-in ceremony in
2006. At that time I focused my remarks on the historic nature of the
occasion as well as the personal relationships I share with each of the
individual justices. With all that they have accomplished over the
short time that this court has been in existence, all Virgin Islanders
will look back on this time with great pride and gratitude for the way
in which they laid the foundation for appellate jurisprudence in the
territory that is second to none.
While it took more than 20 years after the law's authorizing us to
establish a local appellate court, and while we are the last U.S.
territory to do so, it is more than fitting that we are on the verge of
accomplishing the final goal of making the U.S. Virgin Islands Supreme
Court just like all other State supreme courts, and I urge my
colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 6116.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega).
(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I thank the gentleman from Virginia, and especially
also my dear friend and colleague, the gentleman from North Carolina,
as managers of this important legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6116, a bill to
provide for appeals from the Virgin Islands Supreme Court to go to the
U.S. Supreme Court instead of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
H.R. 6116, sponsored by my good friend, the gentlelady from the U.S.
Virgin Islands, Dr. Christensen, simply puts into legislation a
decision vetted by the judicial council of the third circuit,
established through a process which has already been authorized by
Congress.
Mr. Speaker, in 1984, Congress provided Guam and the Virgin Islands
with the authority to establish local supreme courts, and the law
provided for appeals from these courts to go to their respective
circuit courts of appeals for the first 15 years unless after 5 years
their respective court of appeals found the local supreme court was
ready for appeals to go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On April 18 of this year, the third circuit's judicial council
published a 23-page report on the Virgin Islands Supreme Court that was
submitted to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and
also to the House Committee on Natural Resources. In its review, the
council concluded that the Virgin Islands Supreme Court has developed
sufficient institutional traditions to justify direct review by the
Supreme Court of the United States of all final decisions. The council
affirmed that the Virgin Islands Supreme Court's quality of case law
was commensurate with that of the supreme courts of several States, and
among other remarkable reviews, stated further that the third circuit
court has yet to reverse a decision of the Virgin Islands Supreme
Court.
I congratulate the Virgin Islands Supreme Court Chief Justice Rhys
Hodge and Associate Justices Maria Cabret and Ive Swan for this
extraordinary feat, and I commend again the gentlelady from the Virgin
Islands for introducing this timely legislation.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume just to thank the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands, Dr.
Christensen, and the leadership of the Judiciary Committee, the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Michigan, the
ranking member, Mr. Conyers, for bringing this bill to the floor.
And with that, Mr. Speaker, I ask Members to support the bill, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to express my thanks to Dr.
Christensen and to my friend from American Samoa for their assistance,
and Mr. Scott as well.
I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6116, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend the Revised
Organic Act of the Virgin Islands to provide for direct review by the
United States Supreme Court of decisions of the Virgin Islands Supreme
Court, and for other purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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