Sec. 11. Improving the quality of representation in State capital cases
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Section 426(a)(5) of the Innocence Protection Act of 2004 ( 34 U.S.C. 60306(a)(5) ) is amended by striking $22,500,000 for fiscal year 2021. and inserting $12,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027, . Subtitle B of title IV of the Justice for All Act of 2004 ( 34 U.S.C. 60301 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: The Attorney General shall administer grant programs within the Bureau of Justice Assistance, to encourage the review of possible cases of wrongful conviction and facilitate post-conviction relief by establishing or expanding State and local conviction integrity units and by providing high quality representation for defendants litigating post-conviction claims of innocence.
In this paragraph, the term eligible entity means a prosecutor’s office or a State attorney general’s office that may work in partnership with a nonprofit organization, law school innocence clinic, or public defender’s office dedicated to receiving petitions for or reviewing wrongful convictions and wrongful sentences. The Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, shall make grants to eligible entities for the purpose of creating State and local conviction integrity units or entities.
Each application for a grant under this paragraph shall— demonstrate a plan by the applicant to create, maintain, or expand a State or local conviction integrity unit with the intention to conduct substantive, evidence-based conviction review; develop a tool to survey or conduct focus groups with community members, non-profit organizations, or public defender offices dedicated to receiving petitions for or reviewing wrongful convictions, and existing local Conviction Integrity Units in order to identify— the needs of individuals or their counsel seeking review of their convictions or sentences; and the needs of existing local conviction integrity units and non-profit organizations or public defender’s offices dedicated to receiving petitions for or reviewing wrongful convictions; use the information gathered under clause
(ii)and conviction integrity unit best practices to advise procedural conduct in conviction review; develop procedures to ensure that conviction integrity unit is able to operate independently in rules and practice from the other units within the district attorney’s offices or any prosecutors previously involved with the case; in the case of a prosecutor’s office that cannot meet the requirement in clause
(iv)because of the size of the office, provide a written policy detailing reasonable steps that shall be taken to preserve independence and ethical integrity during the investigation; allow for meaningful participation in the review process by petitioner’s counsel; and develop victim notification procedures for final exonerations as appropriate. In awarding grants under this paragraph, the Attorney General shall give preference to applicants who demonstrate a partnership with a nonprofit organization, law school innocence clinic, or public defender’s office dedicated to receiving petitions for or review wrongful convictions and wrongful sentences. There are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to carry out this paragraph, of which not more than 5 percent of the grant funding shall be used for training and technical assistance for grantees. In this paragraph, the term eligible entity means a non-profit organization, institution of higher education, or State or local public defender office that has in-house post-conviction representation programs that show demonstrable experience or competence in litigating post-conviction claims of innocence. The Attorney General shall establish a wrongful conviction review grant program and award grants to eligible entities for the purpose of providing high quality post-conviction representation for defendants in post-conviction claims of innocence. A grant awarded under this paragraph shall be used to support an eligible entity in providing— post-conviction legal representation of innocence claims; case review, evaluation, and management; experts; potentially exonerative forensic testing by a forensic service provider that is accredited by an accrediting body that— is a signatory to an internationally recognized arrangement; and offers accreditation to forensic science conformity assessment bodies using an accreditation standard that is recognized by the internationally recognized arrangement described in subclause (I); and investigation services related to supporting these post-conviction innocence claims. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this paragraph— $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; $18,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; $22,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. . The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Justice for All Act of 2004 ( Public Law 108–405 ; 118 Stat. 2260) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 426 the following: Sec. 427. Wrongful conviction reviews. .
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- Pub. L. 108-405
- 118 Stat. 2260
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Sec. 11
Improving the quality of representation in State capital cases
Pub. L.Pub. L. 108-405
Stat.118 Stat. 2260
Cites 4Cited by 0 across 0 sources