In other legislative news: Oversight Hearing Scheduled
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Courts and Intellectual
Property held a judicial branch oversight hearing on June 11. Judicial
Conference Executive Committee Chair Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges (M.D. Fla.),
Administrative Office Director Leonidas Ralph Mecham, and Federal Judicial
Center Director Judge Rya Zobel discussed Judicial Conference activities, the
operations of the Administrative Office, and the Federal Judicial Center. More
information on the hearing will be in next month's issue of The Third
Branch. The last judicial branch oversight hearing was in 1993.
S. 1892, a bill that would keep a person closely related
to an Article III judge from serving on the same court, has been approved by the
Senate Judiciary Committee and is awaiting floor action in the Senate. The bill
was introduced in the Senate in the wake of the nomination of William A.
Fletcher to the Ninth Circuit, where his mother, Judge Betty Fletcher, currently
sits. Judge Fletcher has said she would take senior status should her son be
confirmed to the Ninth Circuit. A judicial anti-nepotism bill, H.R. 3926,
also has been introduced in the House. William Fletcher's nomination has been
reported out of the Judiciary Committee and is awaiting floor action.
S. J. Res. 44, proposes an amendment to the Constitution
of the United States to protect the rights of crime victims. Introduced by
Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), this joint resolution is the latest in a succession of
bills and proposed constitutional amendments addressing victims' rights. The
Judicial Conference prefers a statutory approach to victims' rights over a
constitutional amendment, but the momentum in Congress for a constitutional
amendment continues to build. S. J. Res. 44 currently has 40 co-sponsors, and
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) has indicated there may be floor time
for the amendment if it is reported out of committee before mid-year.
S. 2083, the Class Action Fairness Act of 1998, was
introduced by Senators Grassley and Herb Kohl (D-WI) in mid-May. In the House,
Representative Henry Hyde (R-IL) introduced H.R. 3789, the Class Action
Jurisdiction Act of 1998. The bills would expand federal jurisdiction over class
action suits in two respects.
First, the bills would amend section 1332 (diversity of
citizenship) of Title 28, to provide original jurisdiction in the district
courts by lowering the threshold for both the diversity of citizenship and the
amount-in-controversy requirements. Second, the bills permit removal of
multistate class actions to federal court. The bills also would
- Require that notice of proposed settlements (as well as all
class notices) be in clear, easily under- stood language and include all
material settlement terms, including the amount and source of attorney's
fees.
- Require state attorneys general to be notified of any proposed
class settlement that would affect the residents of their states. Notice also
must be provided to the Department of Justice.
- Provide that attorney's fees in all class actions must be a
reasonable percentage of actual damages and actual costs of complying with the
terms of the settlement.
- Require the imposition of sanctions for a violation of Rule 11
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The nature and extent of the sanctions
would remain discretionary.