U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), the Senate’s only former federal public defender, joined U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND-At Large) in introducing the Federal Public Defense Commission Act of 2024, bicameral legislation that would establish a new Federal Public Defense Commission to address current structural concerns within the federal public defense system.
The Federal Public Defense Commission would function independently from the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts and oversee federal public defense programs, including the federal defender system and private appointed counsel. This new commission would streamline funding, organization, and leadership of the federal public defender system.
Judicial Conference committees have twice concluded that the federal public defense system needs increased independence in order to properly implement the right to counsel as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
The Federal Public Defense Commission Act would:
- Allow federal public defenders to advocate for their own budgetary, staffing, and physical infrastructure needs directly to Congress without worrying about impacts on or inherent conflicts with the federal Judiciary budget.
- Grant federal public defenders the ability to control their own policies instead of following those set by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
- Address structural conflicts by ending the practice of federal judges selecting the heads of federal public defender offices.
- Create an improved and streamlined system for private appointed attorneys to receive compensation for their work directly through a federal public defense entity.
- Place an ex-officio federal public defender representative on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which already has an ex-officio member from the Attorney General’s Office, but no equivalent representative for criminal defendants.
Read a section-by-section summary of the bill.
Read the full text of the bill.