Office for Access to Justice Establishment Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 5060 To provide for the establishment of the Office for Access to Justice in the Department of Justice, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 17, 2020 Mr. MURPHY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for the establishment of the Office for Access to Justice in the Department of Justice, 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 ‘‘Office for Access to 4 Justice Establishment Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 8 means the Department of Justice. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5060.IS S5060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 5060 IS (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 1 the Director of the Office. 2 (3) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of- 3 fice for Access to Justice established under section 4 2. 5 SEC. 3. OFFICE ESTABLISHMENT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 7 Department, the Office for Access to Justice, which shall 8 be headed by a Director, who shall be appointed by the 9 Attorney General. 10 (b) PERSONNEL AND FUNDS.—The Attorney General 11 shall provide to the Office such personnel and funds as 12 are necessary to establish and operate the Office as a com- 13 ponent of the Department. 14 (c) ORDER OF REPORTING.—The Director shall re- 15 port to the Attorney General through the Deputy Attorney 16 General and the Associate Attorney General. 17 SEC. 4. DUTIES. 18 The Director shall— 19 (1) serve as legal and policy advisor to the At- 20 torney General to ensure access to justice for low- 21 income and other underrepresented people in the 22 criminal and civil justice systems; 23 (2) serve as the principal legal advisor for the 24 Department on the constitutional right to counsel 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5060.IS S5060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 5060 IS and the other rights guaranteed under the Sixth 1 Amendment to the Constitution of the United 2 States; 3 (3) serve as the Executive Director of the Legal 4 Aid Interagency Roundtable in accordance with sec- 5 tion 5; 6 (4) serve as the liaison and point of contact be- 7 tween the Department and indigent defense and civil 8 legal aid organizations, including Federal public de- 9 fender organizations, and conduct, along with the 10 Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the 11 Deputy Attorney General, and the Office of the As- 12 sociate Attorney General, semi-annual meetings with 13 representatives of these organizations to receive 14 input and recommendations on how to improve ac- 15 cess to justice and fulfillment of the right to counsel; 16 (5) coordinate with other components and divi- 17 sions within the Department to ensure each is con- 18 sidering access to justice and right to counsel in pol- 19 icy, enforcement, and funding decisions; 20 (6) consult with Department grantmaking com- 21 ponents to ensure funding decisions take into ac- 22 count access to justice; and 23 (7) consult with the Secretary of State and 24 serve as the central authority of the executive 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5060.IS S5060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 5060 IS branch on access to justice before international and 1 multilateral organizations. 2 SEC. 5. LEGAL AID INTERAGENCY ROUNDTABLE. 3 (a) PURPOSE; COMPOSITION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 6 General shall establish a Legal Aid Interagency 7 Roundtable, which shall be headed by an Executive 8 Director, to raise the awareness of executive branch 9 agencies of the ways in which civil legal aid and indi- 10 gent defense can help advance a wide range of Fed- 11 eral objectives, including employment, family sta- 12 bility, housing, consumer protection, health services, 13 and public safety. 14 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Legal Aid Interagency 15 Roundtable as established under paragraph (1) shall 16 be composed of representatives of executive branch 17 department offices identified by the Executive Direc- 18 tor of the Legal Aid Roundtable with the consent of 19 the Attorney General. 20 (3) REQUIREMENT.—The Executive Director of 21 the Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable shall convene 22 the Roundtable not less frequently than semi-annu- 23 ally. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5060.IS S5060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 5060 IS (b) DUTIES.—The Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable 1 shall— 2 (1) improve coordination among Federal pro- 3 grams that help the vulnerable and underserved, so 4 that such programs are more efficient and produce 5 better outcomes by including, where appropriate, 6 legal services among the range of supportive services 7 provided; 8 (2) develop a list of federally funded programs 9 and resources that incorporate or may incorporate 10 civil legal aid and indigent defense; 11 (3) develop policy recommendations that im- 12 prove access to justice in Federal, State, local, and 13 Tribal jurisdictions; 14 (4) facilitate non-governmental partnerships to 15 promote access to civil legal aid and indigent de- 16 fense, and further law enforcement and civil rights 17 objectives; 18 (5) advance evidence-based research, data col- 19 lection, and analysis on civil legal aid and indigent 20 defense, including the potential of technology innova- 21 tions and non-traditional legal professionals to im- 22 prove access to justice; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5060.IS S5060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 5060 IS (6) promote the provision of civil legal aid to 1 servicemembers, servicemember families, and vet- 2 erans; and 3 (7) report on the activities of the Legal Aid 4 Interagency Roundtable to the President on an an- 5 nual basis, including policy recommendations to im- 6 prove access to civil and criminal justice in the 7 United States. 8 (c) APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES.—The 9 head of each executive branch department and each par- 10 ticipating executive agency and office shall designate a 11 senior Federal official who shall serve as their representa- 12 tive on the Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S5060.IS S5060 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS