S. 2292

MAY 29, 1969 [Mr. MCCLELLAN (for himself and Mr. HRUSKA)]

A BILL

To amend chapter 223, title 18, United States Code, to regulate litigation concerning sources of evidence, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. That the Congress finds (1) that hearing 4 and reviewing claims that evidence offered in proceedings 5 is the direct or indirect product of allegedly illegal acts and 6 is therefore inadmissible in evidence are major causes of 7 undue expense and delay in the administration of justice and 8 distract effort, time, and emphasis of Government officials 9 and the public from fundamental issues; (2) that present 10 rules and practices of disclosure incident to hearing and re11 viewing such claims can and will unduly permit parties to

2

1 obtain much information unrelated to such claims and other2 wise privileged, inhibit communication by Government in3 formants, endanger the lives and safety of such informants, 4 Government agents and others, cause unjustified harm to 5 reputations of third persons, compromise national security 6 and other criminal and civil investigations, interfere with 7 prosecutions and civil actions, impair Federal-State coopera8 tion in law enforcement, and endanger the security of the 9 United States; and (3) that when such claims concern evi10 dence of events occurring years after the allegedly illegal 11 acts, those consequences of litigation and disclosure are aggra12 vated and the claims seldom appear valid and often cannot 13 reliably be determined.

14 SEC. 2. (a) Chapter 223, title 18, United States Code, 15 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new 16 section:

17 "8 3503. Litigation concerning sources of evidence

18 "In any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or be19 fore any court, grand jury, department, officer, agency, 20 regulatory body, or other authority of the United States, 21 a State, or a political subdivision thereof

"(a) no claim shall be considered that evidence

of an event is inadmissible on the ground that such evidence was come at by exploitation of an allegedly

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

3

illegal act, if such event occurred more than five years after such allegedly illegal act; and

"(b) disclosure of information in connection with

a claim that evidence is inadmissible because the di

rect product of an allegedly illegal act or come at by exploitation of such allegedly illegal act shall not be ordered unless such authority has found that such information may be relevant to determination of the admissibility of such evidence and that such disclosure is in the interest of justice.

As used in this section 'State' means any State of the 12 United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 13 of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United 14 States, and 'illegal act' means any act in violation of the 15 Constitution or laws of the United States or any standard 16 promulgated pursuant thereto."

17

(b) The section analysis of that chapter is amended 18 by adding at the end thereof the following new item:

19

"3503. Litigation concerning sources of evidence."

SEC. 3. This Act shall apply to all proceedings, regard20 less of when commenced, occurring after the date of its en21 actment. Paragraph (a) of section 3503 shall not apply to 22 any proceeding in which all information to be relied upon to 23 establish inadmissibility was possessed by the party making

23

4

1 such claim and adduced in such proceeding prior to such

2 enactment.

3

SEC. 4. If the provisions of any part of this Act or the 4 application thereof to any person or circumstances be held 5 invalid, the provisions of the other parts and their applica6 tion to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected 7 thereby.

30-902 - 69-8

Senator MCCLELLAN. That concludes my opening statement. I had hoped that Senator Hruska, who is being detained, might have been able to arrive by the time I concluded. Since he has not, I would like for the record to reflect that Senator Hruska, the ranking minority member on the subcommittee, is in attendance at a hearing before the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee this morning, where the Secretary of Agriculture is testifying. The Secretary is from the State of Nebraska, and Senator Hruska felt that he should be there to introduce him this morning, and he will probably be a little. late coming here. I wished to make that announcement.

I will ask my colleagues at this time, do you have anything, Senator Ervin?

Senator ERVIN. I have no statement.

Senator MCCLELLAN. Senator Thurmond, any statement?

Senator THURMOND. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to associate myself with the remarks of the chairman and say this: That I think one of the things that is gnawing at the heart of America today is crime, and if this administration can take steps to remedy this situation it will certainly be one of the finest things that they can do.

I believe under Attorney General Mitchell that this will be done. I am confident from my experience as a lawyer, and as a circuit judge in South Carolina, that swift apprehension and certain, adequate punishment are essential to deter crime, and I hope our judges will begin to realize their responsibilities along this line, and give criminals, especially hardened criminals, heavier punishment.

I read in the paper frequently where crimes have been committed, very serious crimes, and those committing those crimes have gotten off with very light sentences.

This encourages other crimes, and as soon as we can convince those who are tending to commit crime or do commit crime, that they are going to apprehended, they are going to be punished and receive adequate punishment, then, in my judgment, the crime wave will drop immediately. I feel it will be taken care of, and I am in favor of any legislation that will help to accomplish this. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator MCCLELLAN. Thank you, Senator Thurmond.

We welcome this morning the Attorney General of the United States, who has kindly consented to be our first witness in this series of hearings. I want especially to express my appreciation to him for appearing today because I understand he was in your wonderful State of South Carolina last night, Senator Thurmond, attending an occasion-what was it?-it was, I think, the Hibernian Society down at Charleston, S.C. I had the pleasure of being there last year, and I know after that wonderful party I didn't feel so good the next morning. The General, however, has returned, and he is present to testify this morning.

Senator ERVIN. Mr. Chairman, if I may go off the record. (Discussion off the record.)

Senator MCCLELLAN. Mr. Attorney General, you have a prepared statement. I would like to say this, if I didn't make it clear in the opening statement: A number of bills-I think there are over 20 billshave already been introduced at this session and referred to this sub