Right to Trial Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8856 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8856

To protect the constitutional right to trial and discourage imposition 
 of extended sentences for defendants who elect to go to trial instead 
           of accepting a plea offer, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 2024

Mr. Armstrong (for himself, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Burgess, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. 
Johnson of Georgia, and Mr. Trone) introduced the following bill; which 
             was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To protect the constitutional right to trial and discourage imposition 
 of extended sentences for defendants who elect to go to trial instead 
           of accepting a plea offer, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Right to Trial Act''.

SEC. 2. FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION WHEN IMPOSING A SENTENCE; AUTHORITY 
              TO DEVIATE FROM STATUTORY MINIMUM.

    (a) Factors.--Section 3553(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking the period and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (3) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and inserting 
        a semicolon; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) the need to protect the constitutional right to a 
        trial, including by prohibiting impairment of such a right in 
        any case in which an increased sentence is threatened or 
        imposed based on a defendant's decision to go to trial and not 
        accept a plea offer;
            ``(9) in the case of--
                    ``(A) crimes involving similarly situated 
                codefendants or group conduct, the plea offer, if 
                applicable, and each sentence (and anticipated 
                sentence) of any similarly situated codefendant or 
                similarly situated other person charged in the same or 
                related offense who pled guilty; and
                    ``(B) crimes not involving codefendants or group 
                conduct, the plea agreements and the sentences for 
                similarly situated defendants who pled guilty to 
                similar offenses; and
            ``(10) whether imposition of a statutory minimum sentence 
        would constitute a penalty for asserting the constitutional 
        right to a trial, thereby warranting imposition of a sentence 
        below the statutory minimum.''.
    (b) Authority.--Section 3553(e) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after ``committed an offense.'' the following: 
``The court shall have the authority to impose a sentence below a level 
established by statute as a minimum sentence so as to protect the 
constitutional right to trial.''
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