AMICUS Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1411 To amend title 28, United States Code, to require certain disclosures related to amicus activities. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 9, 2019 Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 28, United States Code, to require certain disclosures related to amicus activities. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Assessing Monetary 4 Influence in the Courts of the United States Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘AMICUS Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURES RELATED TO AMICUS ACTIVITIES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 28, United 8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1411.IS S1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1411 IS ‘‘§ 1660. Disclosures related to amicus activities 1 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘covered 2 amicus’ means any person, including any affiliate of the 3 person, that files not fewer than 3 total amicus briefs in 4 any calendar year in the Supreme Court of the United 5 States and the courts of appeals of the United States. 6 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any covered amicus that 8 files an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the 9 United States or a court of appeals of the United 10 States shall list in the amicus brief the name of any 11 person who— 12 ‘‘(A) contributed to the preparation or sub- 13 mission of the amicus brief; 14 ‘‘(B) contributed not less than 3 percent of 15 the gross annual revenue of the covered amicus 16 for the previous calendar year if the covered 17 amicus is not an individual; or 18 ‘‘(C) contributed more than $100,000 to 19 the covered amicus in the previous year. 20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirements of this 21 subsection shall not apply to amounts received by a 22 covered amicus described in paragraph (1) in com- 23 mercial transactions in the ordinary course of any 24 trade or business conducted by the covered amicus 25 or in the form of investments (other than invest- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1411.IS S1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1411 IS ments by the principal shareholder in a limited li- 1 ability corporation) in an organization if the 2 amounts are unrelated to the amicus filing activities 3 of the covered amicus. 4 ‘‘(c) REGISTRATION.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each covered amicus shall 6 register as a covered amicus with the Administrative 7 Office of the United States Courts. 8 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The registration described in 9 paragraph (1) shall include— 10 ‘‘(A) the name of the registrant; 11 ‘‘(B) a general description of the business 12 or activities of the registrant; 13 ‘‘(C) the name of any person described in 14 subsection (b)(1); 15 ‘‘(D) a statement of the general issue 16 areas in which the registrant expects to engage 17 in amicus activities; and 18 ‘‘(E) to the extent practicable, specific 19 issues that have, as of the date of the registra- 20 tion, already been addressed or are likely to be 21 addressed in the amicus activities of the reg- 22 istrant. 23 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE.—Each amicus shall submit to 24 the Administrative Office of the United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1411.IS S1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1411 IS Courts the registration required under this sub- 1 section not later than— 2 ‘‘(A) 45 days after the date on which the 3 amicus becomes a covered amicus; and 4 ‘‘(B) January 1 of the calendar year after 5 the calendar year in which the amicus was a 6 covered amicus. 7 ‘‘(d) AUDIT.—The Comptroller General of the United 8 States shall conduct an annual audit to ensure compliance 9 with this section. 10 ‘‘(e) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE LISTS.—The Administra- 11 tive Office of the United States Courts shall periodically 12 update the website of the Administrative Office of the 13 United States Courts with the information described in 14 subsection (c)(2), which shall be made publicly available 15 indefinitely. 16 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF GIFTS OR TRAV- 17 EL BY COVERED AMICI TO JUDGES AND JUSTICES.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 19 graph (2), no covered amicus may make a gift or 20 provide travel to a judge of a court of appeals of the 21 United States, the Chief Justice of the United 22 States, or an associate justice of the Supreme Court 23 of the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1411.IS S1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1411 IS ‘‘(2) REIMBURSEMENT FOR TRAVEL FOR AP- 1 PEARANCES AT ACCREDITED LAW SCHOOLS.—Para- 2 graph (1) shall not apply to reimbursement for trav- 3 el for an appearance at an accredited law school. 4 ‘‘(g) CIVIL FINES.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever knowingly fails to 6 comply with any provision of this section shall, upon 7 proof of such knowing violation by a preponderance 8 of the evidence, be subject to a civil fine of not more 9 than $200,000, depending on the extent and gravity 10 of the violation. 11 ‘‘(2) USE OF FINES.—Amounts collected from 12 fines issued under paragraph (1) may be used to 13 maintain the website described in subsection (e)(2). 14 ‘‘(h) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 15 ‘‘(1) CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.—Nothing in 16 this section shall be construed to prohibit or inter- 17 fere with— 18 ‘‘(A) the right to petition the Government 19 for the redress of grievances; 20 ‘‘(B) the right to express a personal opin- 21 ion; or 22 ‘‘(C) the right of association, protected by 23 the First Amendment to the Constitution of the 24 United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1411.IS S1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1411 IS ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION OF ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in 1 this section shall be construed to prohibit, or to au- 2 thorize any court to prohibit, amicus activities by 3 any person or entity, regardless of whether such per- 4 son or entity is in compliance with the requirements 5 of this section. 6 ‘‘(i) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section, 7 or the application thereof, is held invalid, the validity of 8 the remainder of this section and the application of such 9 provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be 10 affected thereby.’’. 11 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 12 The table of sections for chapter 111 of title 28, United 13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘1660. Disclosures related to amicus activities.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1411.IS S1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS