Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2020
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas for her leadership and for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 8124, the Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2020.
This bipartisan bill will bring more efficiency and fairness to the criminal justice system by making two commonsense improvements to the administration of justice in America.
First, the bill would authorize courts to direct the U.S. Marshals Service to provide subsistence and return transportation to the very small group of noncustodial defendants who are required to travel to court proceedings but are financially unable to cover the costs of doing so. While current law provides subsistence and travel to proceedings, there is a gap in the statute.
H.R. 8124 will expand the statute to cover transportation, lodging, and food for defendants who are innocent until proven guilty, as they return home from these proceedings.
Second, the bill will authorize magistrate judges to decide post- judgment motions in misdemeanor cases in which they have already exercised trial jurisdiction. Magistrate judges try and sentence individuals in misdemeanor cases, but to consider a post-judgment motion, current law requires a referral by a district judge or the party's consent.
This provision in H.R. 8124 will facilitate judicial economy and help reduce the caseloads of Article III district court judges by removing this requirement. The more efficient we can make our court system, the more effective and just it will be. These two noncontroversial changes would meaningfully improve the ability of our Federal courts to deliver equity and justice to the people that they serve.
The Judicial Conference of the United States, the national policymaking body for our Federal court system, supports this important and necessary legislation.
I thank the Committee on the Judiciary, and both sides of the aisle, for approving this bill by voice vote last month.
I would also like to thank my colleague and partner, Representative Martha Roby, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, for partnering with me on this effort.
I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 8124.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source