,,ii  #aagth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #ebdg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #ac1 
#bjbb,mr4 ,booker introduced the        
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on the      
,judiciary  ,a ,,bill  ,to enforce the  
,sixth ,amendment right to the          
assistance of effective counsel at all  
stages of the adversarial process1 to   
confer jurisdiction upon the district   
courts of the ,united ,states to provide
 declaratory and injunctive relief      
against systemic violations of such     
right1 and for other purposes4  #a4     
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,equal ,justice ,under ,law ,act of 
#bjbb4  #b4 ,effective assistance of    
counsel  7a7 ,in general ,an indigent   
individual facing criminal prosecution  
or juvenile delinquency in a ,state     
court shall be entitled to the effective
 assistance of counsel1 as guaranteed by
 the ,sixth ,amendment and the #adth    
,amendment to the ,constitution of the  

,united ,states1 at the expense of the  
,state4  7b7 ,delegation ,each ,state   
shall secure effective assistance of    
counsel for indigent defendants1        
regardless of whether the ,state        
delegates fiscal or administrative      
authority over the indigent defense     
function to a political subdivision of  
the ,state4  7c7 ,ineffective assistance
 ,for purposes of this section1 the     
assistance of counsel is ineffective if 
the performance of counsel was not      
reasonable under prevailing professional
 norms4  #c4 ,remedy  7a7 ,class action 
authorized  7#a7 ,in general ,if a      
,state official or #a or more political 
subdivisions of the ,state fails on a   
systemic basis to guarantee the right to
 the assistance of effective counsel as 
guaranteed by the ,sixth ,amendment and 
the #adth ,amendment to the             
,constitution of the ,united ,states1   
including delay of counsel and denial of
 counsel at critical stages including   
bail hearings1 an individual aggrieved  

by a violation of section #b may        
commence a civil class action in an     
appropriate district court of the       
,united ,states to seek declaratory1    
injunctive1 or other equitable relief4  
7#b7 ,evidence ,to prevail in a class   
action described in paragraph 7#a71     
structural evidence1 such as statistics 
and national standards1 may be probative
 of the existence of systemic denials of
 counsel and may be sufficient evidence1
 if the trier of fact is persuaded by a 
preponderance of all evidence presented 
at trial4  7b7 ,attorney's fees ,in any 
action or proceeding under this section1
 the court1 in its discretion1 may allow
 the prevailing party1 other than a     
named official of a ,state or political 
subdivision of a ,state1 a reasonable   
attorney's fee as part of the costs4 ,in
 awarding an attorney's fee under this  
subsection1 the court1 in its           
discretion1 may include expert fees as  
part of the attorney's fee4  7c7        
,savings provision ,nothing in this     

section shall restrict any right that   
any individual has under any other      
statute or under common law to seek     
redress for a violation of the right to 
counsel4  #d4 ,edward ,byrne ,memorial  
,justice ,assistance ,grant ,program    
,section #eja7;b7 of the ,omnibus ,crime
 ,control and ,safe ,streets ,act of    
#aifh 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #cgea7;b77 is      
amended by inserting 1 in consultation  
with public defenders1 before may4