HR1319 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1319 LRB099 15839 RLC 49501 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Federal law, 28 U.S.C. 2255, provides in part that a prisoner in custody under sentence of a court established by an Act of Congress claiming the right to be released upon the ground that the sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States, or that the court was without jurisdiction to impose the sentence, or that the sentence was in excess of the maximum authorized by law or is otherwise subject to collateral attack, may move the court which imposed the sentence to vacate, set aside or correct the sentence; and

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court held in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) that suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused who has requested it violates due process if the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution; and

WHEREAS, Rule 16(a)(1)(E)(i) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that upon a defendant's request, the government must permit the defendant to inspect and to copy or photograph books, papers, documents, data, photographs, tangible objects, buildings or places, or copies or portions of any of these items, if the item is within the government's possession, custody, or control and the item is material to preparing the defense or the government intends to use the item at trial; and

WHEREAS, Prosecutors continue to be found to have withheld exculpatory evidence favorable to the accused; and

WHEREAS, This results in convictions giving persons a criminal record and making it difficult for them to find a job and reconstruct a life after prison; and

WHEREAS, This abuse exists both in the federal and state criminal justice systems; and

WHEREAS, Federal post-conviction relief under 28 U.S.C. 2255 only applies to persons currently in custody; and

WHEREAS, It may be many years after a person is released from federal custody that the person discovers that the prosecutor of the case that resulted in his or her conviction withheld exculpatory evidence; and

WHEREAS, Federal post-conviction relief should be extended to a person sentenced to probation or already released from custody if the prosecutor of the case that resulted in his or her conviction withheld exculpatory evidence; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Congress to amend 28 U.S.C. 2255 to provide that relief is available in cases when exculpatory evidence has been withheld from a person and either the person was convicted and sentenced to probation or the person has been released from federal incarceration; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be forwarded to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, the Majority and Minority leaders of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and to each member of the Illinois Congressional delegation.