{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2006-12-27-pt1-PgE2242", "2006-12-27", 109, 2, null, null, "INTRODUCTION OF THE PRESERVING CRIME VICTIMS' RESTITUTION ACT", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E2242", "E2242", "[{\"name\": \"Adam B. Schiff\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"109\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"4055\"}]", "152 Cong. Rec. E2242", "Congressional Record, Volume 152 Issue 136 (Wednesday, December 27, 2006)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 136 (Wednesday, December 27, 2006)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Page E2242]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n     INTRODUCTION OF THE PRESERVING CRIME VICTIMS' RESTITUTION ACT\n\n                                 ______\n\n                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF\n\n                             of california\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                      Wednesday, December 27, 2006\n\n  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I introduced the Preserving Crime Victims'\nRestitution Act of 2006. This legislation would clarify the procedures\nthat should be applied when a criminal defendant dies after he or she\nhas been duly convicted but before the appeals are final.\n  The need for this legislation has been made evident in recent months.\nEarlier this year, Enron founder Kenneth Lay was found guilty in both\njury and bench trials of 10 criminal charges, including securities\nfraud, wire fraud involving false and misleading statements, bank fraud\nand conspiracy. Prosecutors sought $43.5 million in restitution for the\nvictims of Mr. Lay's crimes.\n  However, prior to the scheduled sentencing, Mr. Lay died from a heart\nattack. As a result, on October 17, 2006, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake\nwiped clean Mr. Lay's criminal record. The convictions were dismissed\nunder a common law rule known as ``abatement,'' which nullifies a\nconviction when a defendant dies before the conviction is affirmed on\nappeal, regardless of the merits of the claim. Judge Lake made clear\nthat his ruling simply followed the binding precedent issued in 2004 by\nthe full U.S. Court of Appeals for the fifth circuit, in a case called\nUnited States v. Estate of Parsons. Last month, the Department of\nJustice withdrew its notice of appeal on Judge Lake's ruling.\n  Congress holds a serious responsibility to address this situation in\na timely manner. Unless we act quickly, thousands of Enron shareholders\nand employees, many of whom lost their entire life savings when Enron's\n$60 billion in market share and $2 billion in pension funds suddenly\ndisappeared, will further lose out on what little restitution they\nmight otherwise receive on the loss of their hard-earned assets and\npension funds.\n  The Preserving Crime Victims' Restitution Act of 2006 is the House\ncompanion to S. 4055 in the Senate, introduced by Senators Feinstein\nand Sessions. The Department of Justice strongly supports the\nprinciples contained in this legislation and the effort to fix this\nproblem to ensure that despite a defendant's death, convictions are\npreserved and restitution remains available for victims of crime.\n  The legislation that I am introducing today will do the following:\n  Establish that if a defendant dies after being convicted of a Federal\noffense, his conviction will not be vacated. Instead, the court will be\ndirected to issue a statement stating that the defendant was\nconvicted--either by a guilty plea or a verdict finding him guilty--but\nthen died before his case or appeal was final;\n  Codify the current rule that no further punishments can be imposed on\na person who is convicted if they die before a sentence is imposed or\nthey have an opportunity to appeal their conviction;\n  Clarify that unlike punishment, all other relief, such as restitution\nto the victims, that could have been sought against a convicted\ndefendant can continue to be pursued and collected after the\ndefendant's death;\n  Establish a process to ensure that after a person dies, a\nrepresentative of the estate can stand in the shoes of the defendant\nand challenge or appeal his or her conviction, and can also secure a\nlawyer or have one appointed; and\n  Grant the Government an additional 2 years after the defendant's\ndeath to file a parallel civil forfeiture lawsuit to recover assets\nlinked to the defendant's crimes when the Government had already filed\na criminal forfeiture action to recover the same assets.\n  Enron's collapse in 2001 eliminated thousands of jobs, tens of\nbillions of dollars in market value, and $2 billion in pension plans.\nCountless former Enron employees and shareholders lost their entire\nlife savings after investing in Enron's retirement plan. These victims\nhave been closely following the years of preparation by the Enron Task\nForce, and the 4-month jury trial and separate 1-week bench trial,\nhoping to finally recover some restitution in this criminal case.\nDespite prosecutors finally securing a conviction, following the death\nof Mr. Lay, these efforts to achieve justice for the victims to make up\nfor the harm they have suffered were eliminated. Instead, these\nindividuals have been forced to start anew in their efforts to rebuild\ntheir lives.\n  Now is the time for Congress to take action to remedy this situation.\nThis legislation offers a fair solution and an orderly process in the\nevent that a criminal defendant dies prior to his final appeal. I am\nhopeful that Congress will act quickly enough to assist these Enron\nvictims and ensure that such an injustice never occurs again. I urge my\ncolleagues to support this legislation.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2006-12-27-pt1-PgE2242"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 8.29791696742177, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}