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To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to strengthen the provision of legal representation to individuals in judicial proceedings that take place after the individual has been arrested in connection with a criminal offense, including at initial appearance.
Summary
This bill would authorize the Attorney General to award grants to states, local governments, and public defender offices to improve legal representation for individuals in criminal proceedings after arrest, including at initial appearances. The bill also provides funding for training programs to help public defenders and court-appointed attorneys improve their representation practices. The legislation would make $50 million available annually from fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for these grants. The bill includes a statement expressing Congress's view that the constitutional right to counsel applies to all post-arrest proceedings.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
14 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Brown, Shontel M. [D-OH-11] (D-OH)
- Rep. Cleaver, Emanuel [D-MO-5] (D-MO)
- Rep. Crockett, Jasmine [D-TX-30] (D-TX)
- Rep. Dean, Madeleine [D-PA-4] (D-PA)
- Rep. Foushee, Valerie P. [D-NC-4] (D-NC)
- Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10] (D-FL)
- Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4] (D-IL)
- Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (D-WA)
- Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4] (D-GA)
- Rep. Moore, Gwen [D-WI-4] (D-WI)
- Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7] (D-MA)
- Rep. Scanlon, Mary Gay [D-PA-5] (D-PA)
- Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Summer L. Lee’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $73,753
- UPMC $30,910
- MPI $11,600
- UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH $10,554
- ADVOCATE AURORA HEALTH $10,000
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Summer L. Lee → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jun 6, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Jun 6, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 6, 2025
Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania (for herself, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Norton, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Crockett, Ms. Brown, Mr. Cleaver, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Jayapal, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Pressley, and Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to strengthen the provision of legal representation to individuals in judicial proceedings that take place after the individual has been arrested in connection with a criminal offense, including at initial appearance.
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 “True Justice Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC DEFENDER GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Public Defender Services Grants.—The Attorney General is authorized to make grants to States, units of local government (as such term is defined in section 901(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251(a))), and public defender offices to provide legal representation to individuals in judicial proceedings that take place after the individual has been arrested in connection with a criminal offense, including at initial appearance.
(b) Public Defender Training Grants.—The Attorney General is authorized to make grants to States, units of local government, and non-profit organizations to provide training to public defenders, court-appointed attorneys, and contract attorneys on best practices for representing individuals in judicial proceedings described in subsection (a).
(c) Application.—An entity seeking a grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney General an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Attorney General may reasonably require.
(d) Amount.—In determining the amount of a grant under this section, the Attorney General shall take into account, with respect to the receiving entity—
(1) the cost of any technology and training that the entity will require in order to provide the services under subsection
(a) or the training under subsection (b), as applicable; and
(2) the size of the justice system that the entity administers or in which the entity participates, as applicable, relative to the size of other justice systems in—
(A) the United States, if the entity is a State or a public defender’s office of a State;
(B) the State in which the entity is located, if the entity is a unit of local government (other than an Indian Tribe) or a public defender’s office of a unit of local government (other than an Indian Tribe); or
(C) of the Indian Tribe, if the entity is a Tribal organization or a public defender’s office of a Tribal organization.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the constitutional right to counsel established by the Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright (372 U.S. 335) applies to any and all post-arrest proceedings. <all>
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