National Center for the Right to Counsel Act
Latest action · Jan 9, 2014 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedOct 30, 2013
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
National Center for the Right to Counsel Act - Establishes in the District of Columbia a private, nonprofit corporation to be known as the National Center for the Right to Counsel to provide: (1) financial support to supplement, but not supplant, funding for public defense systems that provide legal assistance to indigent defendants in criminal cases, including systems run by state or local governments as well as private entities or individuals providing services under contract with such governments; and (2) financial and substantive support for training programs to improve delivery of legal services to indigent defendants.
Requires each state to have a state advisory council to: (1) monitor, receive, and investigate complaints regarding the compliance of public defense systems that receive funding with applicable laws and regulations; (2) notify the Center of any apparent violations; and (3) collect data on the delivery of public defense services and facilitate information sharing between the state's public defense systems.
Authorizes the Center to: (1) make grants and contracts; (2) undertake research, training, and technical assistance; and (3) serve as a clearinghouse for information.
Prohibits the Center from interfering with attorneys' professional responsibilities to their clients or from abrogating the authority of states or other jurisdictions to enforce such standards.
Requires the Center, to the extent feasible, to have services provided in an indigent defendant's principal language in areas where significant numbers of indigent defendants speak a language other than English.
Directs the Center to make available to the public an online database that includes the contact information for all public defense systems in every state.
Requires the Center to establish regional backup service centers to assist public defense systems with access to investigators, sentencing mitigation specialists, and information about available grants.
Cosponsors 12
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Oct 30, 2013 to May 8, 2014, with 2 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MI | John Conyers, Jr. | Original | Oct 30, 2013 |
| D-VA | Robert C. "Bobby" Scott | Original | Oct 30, 2013 |
| D-CT | Joe Courtney | Nov 19, 2013 | |
| D-FL | Frederica S. Wilson | Dec 3, 2013 | |
| D-MO | Wm. Lacy Clay | Dec 4, 2013 | |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Dec 9, 2013 | |
| D-IL | Mike Quigley | Jan 17, 2014 | |
| D-GA | John Lewis | Jan 31, 2014 | |
| D-KY | John A. Yarmuth | Apr 28, 2014 | |
| D-FL | Alcee L. Hastings | May 6, 2014 | |
| D-FL | Kathy Castor | May 7, 2014 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | May 8, 2014 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 9, 2014Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
- Jan 9, 2014Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
- Oct 30, 2013Introduced in House
- Oct 30, 2013Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
- Accounting and auditing
- Advisory bodies
- Congressional oversight
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
- Criminal procedure and sentencing
- Due process and equal protection
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Law enforcement administration and funding
- Lawyers and legal services
- Poverty and welfare assistance
- State and local government operations
- Tax-exempt organizations
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 30, 2013Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.