Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, everyone--regardless of their financial situation--should be able to fully and fairly defend themselves in court.

Unfortunately, however, many defendants who live very far away from the court trying their case cannot afford to get to and from their court appearances to defend themselves. The costs can be simply insurmountable.

This situation often makes poverty the difference between winning and losing a case, regardless of the facts.

That is not justice.

This bill helps make courtroom justice available to everyone by ensuring that travel and lodging costs are covered for low-income defendants.

This will help ensure justice for all defendants, not just those wealthy enough to afford it.

This bill also makes courtrooms more effective. It allows magistrate judges to rule on certain post-judgment issues that they previously could not adjudicate on cases that they handled at the trial level.

This is common sense. If a case has been with a judge through the entirety of the trial, that judge knows the case best and should be able to handle post-conviction issues.

As a former litigator, I believe this bill will help ensure that justice prevails and make our overburdened court system more efficient, and I thank Congressman Jeffries for introducing this important legislation.

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