TRANSPORTATION HOME OF PERSONS ARRESTED AND . RELEASED WITHOUT CONVICTION OR CONVICTED AND PLACED ON PROBATION APRIL 17, 1941.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. WALTER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 2844] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2844) to provide for the transportation home of persons who have been arrested and subsequently released without conviction or convicted and placed on probation, having considered the same, report the bill favorably to the House with amendments, with the recommendation that the bill, as amended, do pass. The committee amendments are as follows: Page 1, line 10, before "United States" insert: "court may direct the". Page 2, line 1, strike out the word "shall". Page 2, line 2, after the words "Attorney General," insert the word"to". STATEMENT Under present law Federal prisoners convicted of crimes and discharged from prison are furnished with transportation to the places of conviction or to the places of their residence at the time of commitment to the institution. If the prisoner has served a sentence of 6 months or more he is also furnished with clothing and an amount of money not to exceed $20. Persons who have been arrested but are later released without conviction and persons convicted and placed on probation are not furnished transportation back to the point of arrest or to their homes. The bill proposes to provide for transportation to the places of arrest or residence of persons who have been released without having been convicted, or to the place to which a probationer is required to proceed under the terms of his probation. AMENDMENTS The amendments made by the committee empower the court to direct the marshal to furnish the person who has been released with transportation and subsistence, instead of directing that the marshal furnish the transportation and subsistence. RECOMMENDATIONS The Committee on the Judiciary after careful consideration recommend the proposed legislation as amended by the committee. The following communication from the Attorney General, addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and referred to the committee, recommends the legislation: The SPEAKER, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GEneral, The House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. SPEAKER: Existing law provides that Federal prisoners convicted of crimes and discharged from prison shall be furnished with transportation to the places of conviction or to the places of their residence at the time of commitment to the institution (U. S. C., title 18, sec. 746). If the prisoner has served a sentence of 6 months or more he is also furnished with clothing and an amount of money not to exceed $20. In contrast to the treatment accorded persons convicted of crimes and discharged from prison after service of their sentence, (a) persons who have been arrested on charges of violating some law of the United States but who are subsequently released without having been convicted, and (b) persons who have been convicted and placed on probation, are not furnished transportation back to the point of arrest or to their homes. The first group may fall into any one of four classes, namely: (1) Those arrested and subsequently released without having their cases presented to the grand jury; (2) those whose cases are presented to the grand jury but whom the grand jury refuses or fails to indict; (3) those who have been indicted but whose indictments are dismissed before trial; (4) those who have been tried and found not guilty of the offense charged. Under the present state of the law, those persons are merely released, many times at places quite removed from the point of their arrest and, in case such persons are without funds, permitted to return home or to the place of arrest in any manner they may select. The situation of such persons in Alaska is especially aggravated, where distances are great and modes of travel difficult. The second group comprises persons convicted and placed on probation at a distance from their homes, without means of defraying their transportation expenses home. Most of these persons are juveniles who have transported stolen automobiles to points outside the States of their residence. It, therefore, appears desirable to amend the above-mentioned statute so as to provide for transportation to the places of arrest or residence of persons who have been released without having been convicted of any offense, or to the place to which a probationer is required to proceed under the terms of his probation. To accomplish this purpose, I enclose herewith a proposed bill drafted in this Department and heretofore recommended by me for enactment in the Seventy-sixth Congress. It proposes to add two new sections to the existing statute and is drawn in such a manner as to give a person released without conviction the opportunity to elect whether to be sent to the place of his arrest or to his home, if the cost of transportation to such latter place is not greater than to the place of arrest. Persons released on bail are excepted from the provisions of the bill. ROBERT H. JACKSON, Attorney General. Sincerely yours, о AUTHORIZING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO GRANT EASEMENTS OVER LANDS UNDER HIS SUPERVISION AND CONTROL APRIL 17, 1941.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. WALTER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 3394] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3394) to authorize the Attorney General to grant easements to States over lands belonging to the United States under his supervision and control, having considered the same, report the bill favorably to the House with the recommendation that it do pass. The bill authorizes the Attorney General to grant easements to States over lands belonging to the United States, under his supervision and control. Hon. James V. Bennett, Director of the Bureau of Prisons of the Department of Justice, has submitted the following memorandum in connection with the proposed measure: MEMORANDUM RE BILL TO AUTHORIZE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO GRANT EASEMENTS OVER GOVERMENT LANDS UNDER HIS SUPERVISION (H. R. 3394) The only lands under the supervision of the Attorney General are those used as sites for prisons and correctional institutions under the Bureau of Prisons, and property used by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The property used by the Immigration and Naturalization Service consists for the most part of city property, so as a practical matter the proposed bill would apply only to lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Prisons. The immediate necessity for the bill arises through difficulties encountered in connection with the sites for the Federal Correctional Institutions at Terre Haute, Ind., Ashland, Ky., and the Federal Reformatory for Women at Seagoville, Tex. The situation at Seagoville, Tex., will illustrate the difficulties encountered at the other two sites: There are several county roads running through the middle of the property acquired for the Federal Reformatory for Women at Seagoville, Tex. It is very necessary from both an administrative and a custodial standpoint that these highways be closed to the public. This the county officials, acting on behalf of the State, were and are willing to do, provided the Government will grant an easement along the outside boundaries of the site for the relocation of the roads. Upon such relocation the State has agreed to vacate the existing roads through the reservation, in which event the title will revert to the United States as the abutting owner. At present there is no authority to grant an easement for highway purposes under such circumstances. It is very necessary that the Attorney General be able to grant such easements promptly in order to take advantage of agreements made with State authorities. The delay which would ensue should each case have to be submitted to Congress for special authorization would jeopardize the interests of the Government. So far as the acceptance of jurisdiction is concerned, the last sentence of the bill is in harmony with section 355 of the Revised Statutes as amended. As to the cession of jurisdiction, it may and probably will be desirable to cede only jurisdiction relative to the operation of traffic over the highways covered by the easements, which may from time to time require modification. It is therefore thought desirable to give the Attorney General the power to make such modifications from time to time as circumstances may justify. о ADDITIONAL JUDGE FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO APRIL 17, 1941.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. WALTER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 482] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (S. 482) to provide for the appointment of one additional United States district judge for the northern district of Ohio, having considered the same, report the bill favorably to the House with an amendment, with the recommendation that, as amended, the bill do pass. The committee amendment is as follows: In line 6, after "Ohio" insert the following: Provided, That the first vacancy occurring in the office of district judge in said district shall not be filled. The bill authorizes the appointment of an additional judge for the northern district of Ohio. The committee amendment adds the proviso that the first vacancy occurring in the office of district judge in that district shall not be filled. STATEMENT The Judicial Conference of the Senior Circuit Judges of the United States, at its October session, 1940, recommended this judgeship in the following language: The report of the Director (of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts) and the statement of the senior circuit judge for the sixth circuit showed that there is substantial congestion in the northern district of Ohio. Last year the conference recommended that provision be made for an additional district judge in that district and now renews that recommendation (Report of the Judicial Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, 1940, p. 6). |