Rep. Johnson’s court simplification bill headed to President Obama’s desk
April 29, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Congressman Hank Johnson’s (GA-04) bill H.R. 1626 – “Statutory Time-Period Technical Amendments Act of 2009” – which changes court deadlines in a number of statutes so they correspond to new rules being adopted by the federal courts in December, is headed to President Obama’s desk for his signature.
HR 1626 passed by a voice vote in the House on April 22, in the Senate on April 27 and should be law in about 10 days.
Judges and attorneys have been complaining for years that the unclear and confusing rules for computing court deadlines can cause criminal defendants and parties to litigation to lose their rights based on procedural error rather than the merits of a case.
Under HR 1626, deadlines will not fall on weekends and every calendar day will be counted when calculating deadlines, a rational “days are days” approach as opposed to the “business-day” model.
“Both this bill and the rules changes are widely supported by judges and the lawyers who advocate for people’s rights in court every day,” said Johnson.
“I am looking forward to the President signing this into law so that we can make our court system more efficient and accessible, and so that courts are able to make the best possible determinations based on the substantive portions of a case rather than on procedure.”
If signed into law, the common five-day periods will be extended to seven days, and 10-day periods will be extended to 14 days. Deadlines involving shorter time periods will continue to be calculated by excluding weekends and holidays when counting days.
“As anyone who has practiced law knows, calculating court deadlines can be extremely confusing,” said Johnson. “This legislation would also make filing deadlines for federal courts in banking, civil and criminal cases uniform, which will make things much more practical.”
Johnson introduced HR 1626 along with Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (MI-14), Howard Coble (NC-06) and Lamar Smith (TX-21).
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