H.R. 968 · 115th Congress
Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2017
- Stage
- In committee
- Sponsor
- Sean Maloney
- Introduced
- 2017-02-07
- Latest action
- 2017-03-09 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Summary
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.