[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15166-15168]
[From the U.S. 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, as amended.
  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

[[Page 15167]]

     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?
  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 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 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 provision 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 revises both the bill's long title and the 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 precedent. 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.
  Mrs. 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

[[Page 15168]]

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 
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. 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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