US Congress House Bill 968 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10)
Status: Introduced on February 7 2017 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2017-03-09 - Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
Pending: House Subcommittee on the Constitution And Civil Justice Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2017 This bill states that an indigent individual facing criminal prosecution or juvenile delinquency in a state court is entitled to the effective assistance of counsel, as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, at the state's expense. The bill authorizes a federal class action lawsuit against a state for its systemic failure to guarantee the right to effective assistance of counsel. The assistance of counsel is ineffective when a class of individuals demonstrates that counsel's performance was not reasonable under prevailing professional norms.

Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2017

Rep. Sean Maloney [D-NY]	Rep. Elijah Cummings [D-MD]	Rep. Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY]	Rep. Joseph Kennedy [D-MA]
Rep. Joyce Beatty [D-OH]	Rep. Alcee Hastings [D-FL]	Rep. Eleanor Norton [D-DC]	Rep. Janice Schakowsky [D-IL]
Rep. Adam Smith [D-WA]	Rep. Tony Cardenas [D-CA]

Date	Chamber	Action
2017-03-09	House	Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
2017-03-09	House	Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
2017-02-07	House	Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
2017-02-07	House	Introduced in House

SB328 (Related) 2017-02-07 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/968/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr968/BILLS-115hr968ih.pdf