I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6017 To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the establishment of a code of conduct for the justices of the Supreme Court, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2020 Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. NADLER) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary A BILL To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the establishment of a code of conduct for the justices of the Supreme Court, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Twenty-First Century 4 Courts Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE SUPREME COURT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 16 of title 28, United 7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6017 IH ‘‘§ 365. Code of conduct 1 ‘‘(a) Not later than one year after the date of the 2 enactment of this section, the Supreme Court of the 3 United States shall, after appropriate public notice and 4 opportunity for comment, promulgate a code of conduct 5 for the justices of the Supreme Court. 6 ‘‘(b) The Supreme Court may modify the code of con- 7 duct after giving appropriate public notice and oppor- 8 tunity for comment.’’. 9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 10 for such chapter is amended by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘365. Code of conduct.’’. SEC. 3. EXPLANATION FOR DISQUALIFICATION OF JUS- 13 TICES, JUDGES, AND MAGISTRATE JUDGES. 14 Section 455 of title 28, United States Code, is 15 amended by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(g) PUBLICATION OF REASONS FOR DISQUALIFICA- 17 TION.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any matter 19 in which a justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the 20 United States disqualifies himself or herself under 21 this section, the clerk of the court shall publish time- 22 ly notice of the disqualification on the website of the 23 court, with a brief explanation of each reason for the 24 disqualification. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6017 IH ‘‘(2) SPECIFICATION OF CIRCUMSTANCE.—The 1 explanation of the reason for the disqualification 2 shall include a specific identification of each cir- 3 cumstance under any paragraph of subsection (b) 4 that resulted in disqualification and may be limited 5 to an identification of the category of circumstance. 6 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—This subsection does not 7 apply to the extent that the reason for the disquali- 8 fication involves a matter of medical health or, at 9 the discretion of the Judicial Conference, that the 10 personal privacy of a justice, judge, or magistrate 11 judge of the United States could be unduly com- 12 promised.’’. 13 SEC. 4. ONLINE FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS. 14 Section 105 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 15 (5 U.S.C. App. 105) is amended by inserting at the end 16 the following: 17 ‘‘(e)(1) Not later than 90 days after a report is filed 18 under this title by an individual described in section 19 109(10), the Judicial Conference shall make such report 20 available in a full text searchable, sortable, and 21 downloadable format on the website of the Administrative 22 Office of the United States Courts. 23 ‘‘(2) Any report published pursuant to paragraph (1) 24 shall not contain any information that is otherwise re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6017 IH quired by law, rule, or regulation to be redacted from such 1 report. 2 ‘‘(3) Not later than 6 months after the date of enact- 3 ment of the Twenty-First Century Courts Act, the Judi- 4 cial Conference shall prescribe a form for use in collecting 5 information for such reports substantially similar to any 6 form employed by the Director of the Office of Govern- 7 ment Ethics on a Government-wide basis for agencies.’’. 8 SEC. 5. AUDIO RECORDING OF COURT PROCEEDINGS. 9 (a) COURTS OF APPEALS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 28, United 11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 12 following: 13 ‘‘§ 50. Internet publication of certain audio record- 14 ings 15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date de- 16 scribed in subsection (b), the proceedings of each hearing 17 of a court of appeals shall be made available for public 18 transmission over the internet— 19 ‘‘(1) to the extent practicable, in real time dur- 20 ing such hearing; and 21 ‘‘(2) for not less than 2 years after the conclu- 22 sion of such hearing. 23 ‘‘(b) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date described in the 24 subsection is— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6017 IH ‘‘(1) in the case of a court of appeals sitting en 1 banc, one year after the date of the enactment of 2 this section; and 3 ‘‘(2) in the case of a panel of a court of appeals 4 (other than as described in paragraph (1)), 2 years 5 after the date of the enactment of this section. 6 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under subsection 7 (a) shall not apply in the case that the courtroom is closed 8 to the public. 9 ‘‘(d) COPYRIGHT PROTECTION NOT AVAILABLE.—An 10 audio recording created pursuant to the requirement 11 under this section shall be considered a work of the United 12 States Government for purposes of section 105 of title 13 17.’’. 14 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 15 tions for such chapter is amended by adding at the 16 end the following: 17 ‘‘50. Internet publication of certain audio recordings.’’. (b) SUPREME COURT.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 28, United 19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 20 following: 21 ‘‘§ 7. Internet publication of certain audio recordings 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each oral argument and opinion 23 reading before the Supreme Court shall be made available 24 for public transmission over the internet— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6017 IH ‘‘(1)(A) on the day of such oral argument and 1 opinion reading, by not later than one year after the 2 date of the enactment of this section; and 3 ‘‘(B) in real time during such oral argument 4 and opinion reading, by not later than 2 years after 5 the date of the enactment of this section; and 6 ‘‘(2) for not less than 2 years after the conclu- 7 sion of such oral argument and opinion reading. 8 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under sub- 9 section (a) shall not apply in the case that the courtroom 10 is closed to the public. 11 ‘‘(c) COPYRIGHT PROTECTION NOT AVAILABLE.—An 12 audio recording created pursuant to the requirement 13 under this section shall be considered a work of the United 14 States Government for purposes of section 105 of title 15 17.’’. 16 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 17 tions for such chapter is amended by adding at the 18 end the following: 19 ‘‘7. Internet publication of certain audio recordings.’’. SEC. 6. MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC CASE MANAGE- 20 MENT SYSTEMS. 21 (a) CONSOLIDATION.—Not later than the date speci- 22 fied in subsection (e), the Director of the Administrative 23 Office of the United States Courts, in coordination with 24 the Administrator of General Services, shall establish, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6017 IH maintain, and operate, consistent with the requirements 1 of this section and section 7 of this Act, one system all 2 public court records. 3 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF SYSTEM.—The system devel- 4 oped under subsection (a) shall comply with the following 5 requirements: 6 (1) The system shall provide search functions, 7 developed in coordination with the Administrator of 8 General Services, by the public and by parties before 9 the court. 10 (2) Any information that is prohibited from 11 public disclosure by law or court order shall be re- 12 dacted. 13 (3) Any information made available through a 14 website established pursuant to section 205 of the 15 E-Government Act of 2002 shall be included in the 16 system. 17 (4) Any website for the system shall substan- 18 tially comply with the requirements under sub- 19 sections (b) and (c) of section 205 of the E-Govern- 20 ment Act of 2002. 21 (5) To the extent practicable, external websites 22 shall be able to link to documents on the system. 23 Each website established pursuant to section 205 of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6017 IH the E-Government Act of 2002 shall contain a link 1 to the system. 2 (c) DATA STANDARDS.— 3 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATA STANDARDS.— 4 The Director of the Administrative Office of the 5 United States Courts, in coordination with the Ad- 6 ministrator of General Services and the Archivist of 7 the United States, shall establish data standards for 8 the system established under subsection (a). 9 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards es- 10 tablished under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent 11 reasonable and practicable— 12 (A) incorporate widely accepted common 13 data elements; 14 (B) incorporate a widely accepted, non- 15 proprietary, full text searchable, platform-inde- 16 pendent computer-readable format; and 17 (C) be capable of being continually up- 18 graded as necessary. 19 (3) DEADLINES.—Not later than 6 months 20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 21 of the Administrative Office of the United States 22 Courts shall issue guidance to all Federal courts on 23 the data standards established under subsection (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6017 IH (d) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—In developing the system 1 under subsection (a), the Director shall use modern tech- 2 nology in order— 3 (1) to improve security, data accessibility, af- 4 fordability, and performance; and 5 (2) to minimize the burden on pro se litigants. 6 (e) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in this 7 subsection is the date that is 2 years after the date of 8 the enactment of this Act, unless the Administrator of 9 General Services certifies to Congress, by not later than 10 90 days after such date of enactment, that an additional 11 period of time is required. If the Administrator so cer- 12 tifies, the date specified in this subsection is the date that 13 is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 14 (f) FUNDING.— 15 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Ju- 17 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 18 Public Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 19 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended— 20 (i) in subsection (a), by inserting 21 ‘‘The Judicial Conference shall prescribe a 22 schedule of additional fees for any person 23 who accrues such fees for access in an 24 amount of $25,000 or greater in any quar- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6017 IH ter. All fees collected shall be deposited as 1 offsetting collections to the Judiciary In- 2 formation Technology Fund pursuant to 3 section 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United 4 States Code, to reimburse expenses in- 5 curred in carrying out section 6 of the 6 Twenty-First Century Courts Act.’’ before 7 ‘‘The Director of the Administrative Office 8 of the United States Courts’’; and 9 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘All 10 fees hereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 11 otherwise provided in this section, all fees 12 hereafter’’. 13 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 14 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 15 the date of enactment of this Act. 16 (2) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Ju- 18 diciary Appropriations Act, 1992 (title III of 19 Public Law 102–140; 105 Stat. 807) (28 20 U.S.C. 1913 note) is amended by striking sub- 21 sections (a) and (b), and inserting the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘SEC. 303. (a)(1) To cover the costs of carrying out 24 section 6 of the Twenty-First Century Courts Act, the Ju- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6017 IH dicial Conference may, only to the extent necessary, pre- 1 scribe reasonable filing fees, pursuant to sections 1913, 2 1914, 1926, 1930, and 1932 of title 28, United States 3 Code, for collection by the courts under those sections. 4 ‘‘(2) The filing fees prescribed under paragraph (1) 5 shall be based on the extent of the use by the person filing 6 of the system established under such section 6 for pur- 7 poses of such action, and shall in addition be adjusted 8 based on factors including the nature of the action and 9 claim for relief, the amount of damages demanded, the 10 estimated complexity of the type of action, and the inter- 11 ests of justice. Filing fees may be prescribed for the filing 12 of a counterclaim. Pro se litigants and litigants who certify 13 their financial hardship shall not be subject to the filing 14 fees. 15 ‘‘(b) The Judicial Conference and the Director shall 16 transmit each schedule of fees prescribed under subsection 17 (a) to Congress at least 90 days before the schedule be- 18 comes effective. All fees collected under subsection (a) 19 shall be deposited as offsetting collections to the Judiciary 20 Information Technology Fund pursuant to section 21 612(c)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, to reimburse 22 expenses incurred in carrying out section 6 of the Twenty- 23 First Century Courts Act.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6017.IH H6017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6017 IH (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 1 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 2 the date specified in subsection (e). 3 (3) BANKRUPTCY FEES.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—To cover the costs of 5 carrying out section 6, the Judicial Conference 6 may prescribe a fee for the filing of a proof of 7 claim or interest under Rule 3 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]