[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9108 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9108
To amend title 5, United States Code, to create a right of public
access to certain records relating to the courts of the United States,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 23, 2024
Mr. Schiff introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to create a right of public
access to certain records relating to the courts of the United States,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Judicial FOIA Expansion Act''.
SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AND THE PRIVACY
ACT TO THE JUDICIARY.
(a) Amendments.--Title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 551--
(A) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting after ``the
courts of the United States'' the following: ``, except
for purposes of sections 552 and 552a'';
(B) in paragraph (13), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(C) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(15) `court of the United States'--
``(A) means--
``(i) a court or other entity in the
judicial branch that receives funds
appropriated by the Financial Services and
General Government Appropriations Act,
including the United States Supreme Court, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit, the United States Court of
International Trade, the United States Courts
of Appeals, the United States district courts,
the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, the United
States Sentencing Commission, the Federal
defender organizations; and
``(ii) a security or protective service
provided using funds appropriated by the
Financial Services and General Government
Appropriations Act for a Federal courthouse, or
for an officer or employee of the judicial
branch; and
``(B) does not include the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court.''; and
(2) by inserting after section 552b the following new
section:
``Sec. 552c. Applicability to the courts of the United States
``(a) Applicability of Section 552.--
``(1) In general.--In addition to what is required under
section 552, the following types of information are subject to
a record request with respect to the courts of the United
States:
``(A) Any record of attorney disciplinary
proceeding or sanction, excluding any case record
relating to the deliberation of the disciplinary
hearing in accordance with paragraph (2)(A).
``(B) Any complaint, investigation, and order
against a judge or other court personnel.
``(C) Meeting calendars and minutes of the Federal
Judicial Conference and the membership list for each
committee.
``(D) Research and educational material produced by
the Federal Judicial Center.
``(E) Any completed jury selection form.
``(F) Any performance report for a judge or
personnel.
``(G) Any technical audit or update plan for PACER.
``(H) Any annual report to Congress, including each
committee and subcommittee of Congress.
``(2) Exemptions.--In addition to the matters described
under section 552(b), section 552 does not apply to the
following with respect to the courts of the United States:
``(A) Any matter related to an ongoing case.
``(B) Any information not in the possession of the
courts of the United States.
``(3) Machine-readability.--Any information published or
provided under section 552 or 552a by a court of the United
States shall be machine-readable (as such term is defined in
section 3502 of title 44).
``(b) Representation.--The Attorney General shall represent a court
of the United States in any claim brought under section 552 or section
552a.''.
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section, or any
amendment made by this section, may be construed as displacing the
common law right of public access to judicial records.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 to meet the requirements
of this Act, including the creation of an office to meet such
requirements within the Administrative Office of the United States
Courts.
(d) Severability.--If any provision of this Act, or the application
thereof, is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Act and
the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances
shall not be affected thereby.
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