US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 42USC14135]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
         CHAPTER 136--VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
 
             SUBCHAPTER IX--STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
 
                       Part A--DNA Identification
 
Sec. 14135. Authorization of grants


(a) Authorization of grants

    The Attorney General may make grants to eligible States for use by 
the State for the following purposes:
        (1) To carry out, for inclusion in the Combined DNA Index System 
    of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, DNA analyses of samples 
    taken from individuals convicted of a qualifying State offense (as 
    determined under subsection (b)(3) of this section).
        (2) To carry out, for inclusion in such Combined DNA Index 
    System, DNA analyses of samples from crime scenes.
        (3) To increase the capacity of laboratories owned by the State 
    or by units of local government within the State to carry out DNA 
    analyses of samples specified in paragraph (2).

(b) Eligibility

    For a State to be eligible to receive a grant under this section, 
the chief executive officer of the State shall submit to the Attorney 
General an application in such form and containing such information as 
the Attorney General may require. The application shall--
        (1) provide assurances that the State has implemented, or will 
    implement not later than 120 days after the date of such 
    application, a comprehensive plan for the expeditious DNA analysis 
    of samples in accordance with this section;
        (2) include a certification that each DNA analysis carried out 
    under the plan shall be maintained pursuant to the privacy 
    requirements described in section 14132(b)(3) of this title;
        (3) include a certification that the State has determined, by 
    statute, rule, or regulation, those offenses under State law that 
    shall be treated for purposes of this section as qualifying State 
    offenses;
        (4) specify the allocation that the State shall make, in using 
    grant amounts to carry out DNA analyses of samples, as between 
    samples specified in subsection (a)(1) of this section and samples 
    specified in subsection (a)(2) of this section; and
        (5) specify that portion of grant amounts that the State shall 
    use for the purpose specified in subsection (a)(3) of this section.

(c) Crimes without suspects

    A State that proposes to allocate grant amounts under paragraph (4) 
or (5) of subsection (b) of this section for the purposes specified in 
paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (a) of this section shall use such 
allocated amounts to conduct or facilitate DNA analyses of those samples 
that relate to crimes in connection with which there are no suspects.

(d) Analysis of samples

                           (1) In general

        The plan shall require that, except as provided in paragraph 
    (3), each DNA analysis be carried out in a laboratory that satisfies 
    quality assurance standards and is--
            (A) operated by the State or a unit of local government 
        within the State; or
            (B) operated by a private entity pursuant to a contract with 
        the State or a unit of local government within the State.

                   (2) Quality assurance standards

        (A) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall 
    maintain and make available to States a description of quality 
    assurance protocols and practices that the Director considers 
    adequate to assure the quality of a forensic laboratory.
        (B) For purposes of this section, a laboratory satisfies quality 
    assurance standards if the laboratory satisfies the quality control 
    requirements described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 14132(b) 
    of this title.

              (3) Use of vouchers for certain purposes

        A grant for the purposes specified in paragraph (1) or (2) of 
    subsection (a) of this section may be made in the form of a voucher 
    for laboratory services, which may be redeemed at a laboratory 
    operated by a private entity approved by the Attorney General that 
    satisfies quality assurance standards. The Attorney General may make 
    payment to such a laboratory for the analysis of DNA samples using 
    amounts authorized for those purposes under subsection (j) of this 
    section.

(e) Restrictions on use of funds

                         (1) Nonsupplanting

        Funds made available pursuant to this section shall not be used 
    to supplant State funds, but shall be used to increase the amount of 
    funds that would, in the absence of Federal funds, be made available 
    from State sources for the purposes of this Act.

                      (2) Administrative costs

        A State may not use more than 3 percent of the funds it receives 
    from this section for administrative expenses.

(f) Reports to the Attorney General

    Each State which receives a grant under this section shall submit to 
the Attorney General, for each year in which funds from a grant received 
under this section is expended, a report at such time and in such manner 
as the Attorney General may reasonably require, which contains--
        (1) a summary of the activities carried out under the grant and 
    an assessment of whether such activities are meeting the needs 
    identified in the application; and
        (2) such other information as the Attorney General may require.

(g) Reports to Congress

    Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year for which 
grants are made under this section, the Attorney General shall submit to 
the Congress a report that includes--
        (1) the aggregate amount of grants made under this section to 
    each State for such fiscal year; and
        (2) a summary of the information provided by States receiving 
    grants under this section.

(h) Expenditure records

                           (1) In general

        Each State which receives a grant under this section shall keep 
    records as the Attorney General may require to facilitate an 
    effective audit of the receipt and use of grant funds received under 
    this section.

                             (2) Access

        Each State which receives a grant under this section shall make 
    available, for the purpose of audit and examination, such records as 
    are related to the receipt or use of any such grant.

(i) Definition

    For purposes of this section, the term ``State'' means a State of 
the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
Northern Mariana Islands.

(j) Authorization of appropriations

    Amounts are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 
for grants under subsection (a) of this section as follows:
        (1) For grants for the purposes specified in paragraph (1) of 
    such subsection--
            (A) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;
            (B) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; and
            (C) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.

        (2) For grants for the purposes specified in paragraphs (2) and 
    (3) of such subsection--
            (A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;
            (B) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2002;
            (C) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
            (D) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

(Pub. L. 106-546, Sec. 2, Dec. 19, 2000, 114 Stat. 2726.)

                       References in Text

    This Act, referred to in subsec. (e)(1), is Pub. L. 106-546, Dec. 
19, 2000, 114 Stat. 2726, known as the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination 
Act of 2000. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see 
Short Title of 2000 Amendments note set out under section 13701 of this 
title and Tables.

                          Codification

    Section was enacted as part of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination 
Act of 2000, and not as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994 which enacted this chapter.


 Sense of Congress Regarding the Obligation of Grantee States to Ensure 
 Access to Post-Conviction DNA Testing and Competent Counsel in Capital 
                                  Cases

    Pub. L. 106-561, Sec. 4, Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2791, provided 
that:
    ``(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
        ``(1) over the past decade, deoxyribonucleic acid testing 
    (referred to in this section as `DNA testing') has emerged as the 
    most reliable forensic technique for identifying criminals when 
    biological material is left at a crime scene;
        ``(2) because of its scientific precision, DNA testing can, in 
    some cases, conclusively establish the guilt or innocence of a 
    criminal defendant;
        ``(3) in other cases, DNA testing may not conclusively establish 
    guilt or innocence, but may have significant probative value to a 
    finder of fact;
        ``(4) DNA testing was not widely available in cases tried prior 
    to 1994;
        ``(5) new forensic DNA testing procedures have made it possible 
    to get results from minute samples that could not previously be 
    tested, and to obtain more informative and accurate results than 
    earlier forms of forensic DNA testing could produce, resulting in 
    some cases of convicted inmates being exonerated by new DNA tests 
    after earlier tests had failed to produce definitive results;
        ``(6) DNA testing can and has resulted in the post-conviction 
    exoneration of more than 75 innocent men and women, including some 
    under sentence of death;
        ``(7) in more than a dozen cases, post-conviction DNA testing 
    that has exonerated an innocent person has also enhanced public 
    safety by providing evidence that led to the apprehension of the 
    actual perpetrator;
        ``(8) experience has shown that it is not unduly burdensome to 
    make DNA testing available to inmates in appropriate cases;
        ``(9) under current Federal and State law, it is difficult to 
    obtain post-conviction DNA testing because of time limits on 
    introducing newly discovered evidence;
        ``(10) the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence, a 
    Federal panel established by the Department of Justice and comprised 
    of law enforcement, judicial, and scientific experts, has urged that 
    post-conviction DNA testing be permitted in the relatively small 
    number of cases in which it is appropriate, notwithstanding 
    procedural rules that could be invoked to preclude such testing, and 
    notwithstanding the inability of an inmate to pay for the testing;
        ``(11) only a few States have adopted post-conviction DNA 
    testing procedures;
        ``(12) States have received millions of dollars in DNA-related 
    grants, and more funding is needed to improve State forensic 
    facilities and to reduce the nationwide backlog of DNA samples from 
    convicted offenders and crime scenes that need to be tested or 
    retested using upgraded methods;
        ``(13) States that accept such financial assistance should not 
    deny the promise of truth and justice for both sides of our 
    adversarial system that DNA testing offers;
        ``(14) post-conviction DNA testing and other post-conviction 
    investigative techniques have shown that innocent people have been 
    sentenced to death in this country;
        ``(15) a constitutional error in capital cases is incompetent 
    defense lawyers who fail to present important evidence that the 
    defendant may have been innocent or does not deserve to be sentenced 
    to death; and
        ``(16) providing quality representation to defendants facing 
    loss of liberty or life is essential to fundamental due process and 
    the speedy final resolution of judicial proceedings.
    ``(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
        ``(1) Congress should condition forensic science-related grants 
    to a State or State forensic facility on the State's agreement to 
    ensure post-conviction DNA testing in appropriate cases; and
        ``(2) Congress should work with the States to improve the 
    quality of legal representation in capital cases through the 
    establishment of standards that will assure the timely appointment 
    of competent counsel with adequate resources to represent defendants 
    in capital cases at each stage of the proceedings.''
    Pub. L. 106-546, Sec. 11, Dec. 19, 2000, 114 Stat. 2735, enacted 
provisions substantially identical to those enacted by Pub. L. 106-561, 
Sec. 4, set out above.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 14135e of this title.