by Kevin Driscoll, Senior Legislative Counsel, American Bar Association

The following is a legislative status report prepared by Kevin Driscoll, Senior Legislative Counsel at the ABA for its Criminal Justice Section on items pending in Congress, CrimeLynx believes these bills are of interest to the Criminal Defense Community and is re-posting Mr. Driscoll's report here: .

" The following issues may see some action before the end of the Congress:

A. DNA Testing. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is expected to introduce legislation in early September to provide for post-conviction DNA testing in federal cases. Already introduced is the Innocence Protection Act, S. 2690 (Leahy, D-VT, and Smith, R-OR) and H.R. 4167 (Delahunt, D-MA, and LaHood, R-IL), which, among other provisions, establishes rules and procedures governing applications for DNA testing by federal convicted offenders. The legislation would also encourage states to allow post-conviction DNA testing by conditioning receipt of federal grants on an assurance that the state will adopt adequate procedures for preserving biological material and making DNA testing available to its inmates. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on DNA testing on June 13; a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing was held on June 20. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Patrick Leahy may try to reach a compromise this year, but time is running out.

B. DNA Backlog. On June 15, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime approved legislation to help states reduce the backlog of biological samples awaiting DNA analysis. The legislation, H.R. 4640 (McCollum, R-FL), would create a five-year, $50 million grant program to allow state DNA samples to be sent to the FBI national database.

C. Ethical Rules for Prosecutors. Senator Leahy has indicated he may offer an amendment to modify the 1999 McDade-Murtha law, which clarified that federal prosecutors are subject to state ethics rules. Senator Leahy 's proposed amendment would confirm that the Justice Department cannot write its own ethics rules for its attorneys, but provides generally that government attorneys are subject only to the ethics rules established by the federal courts in which they practice. Given the few legislative days remaining in the session, it is unclear whether Senator Leahy will have an opportunity to raise this issue.

D. Family Unity Act. The Family Unity Demonstration Project Act, part of the 1994 crime bill, will expire this year, if not reauthorized. The Act would allow certain nonviolent offenders to be housed in community correctional facilities, with their children, rather than in prison or jail. We have been working with Senator Leahy and Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) to have the reauthorization language attached to some other legislation that is likely to be enacted.

E. Indigent Defense Funding. The House Appropriations Committee on June 14, approved the spending bill for Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary (CJS) for FY 2001. The bill, H.R. 4690, includes a $5 per hour increase in CJA panel attorney rates, bringing the rates generally to $75 per hour for in-court time and $55 per hour for out-of-court time. Last year, Congress approved a $5 per hour increase for FY 2000. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the CJS spending bill on July 18. The bill provides no increase in CJA funding. The President has threatened to veto the CJS bill because several of his initiatives are underfunded. A final resolution of this issue will likely be determined during year-end budget negotiations between Congress and the White House.

F. Juvenile Justice/Gun Violence. Conferees considering the juvenile justice legislation, H.R. 1501, remain deadlocked over ABA-supported provisions in the Senate version to require, among other things, background checks at gun shows. The ABA does not support the juvenile justice provisions in H.R. 1501, which incorporate "get tough" initiatives with an emphasis on trying children as adults. No further action is expected this year on H.R. 1501 because of election-year politics, but some Members may try to attach pieces of the legislation to other moving bills.

G. Loan Forgiveness. The House Education and the Workforce Committee on May 25, approved an amendment to a Higher Education Act technical corrections bill, H.R. 4504, making prosecutors and public defenders eligible for loan forgiveness under the Perkins student loan program. Sponsored by Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), the provision, approved on a 25-19 vote, would allow public defenders and prosecutors who make less than $30,000 in adjusted annual income to be eligible for the same student loan forgiveness established for police officers and prison guards under the Perkins student loan program. The amendment incorporating the $30, 000 cap, not supported by the ABA, was offered by Committee Chair William Goodling (R-PA) and accepted by Rep. Payne. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is expected to consider H.R. 4504 early in September."

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