18 U.S.C. § 3523 — Civil judgments

Page 789 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 3523 1 See References in Text note below. requirements under the [former] Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Of- fender Registration Act [42 U.S.C. 14071 et seq.], and the Attorney General may grant an additional 2 years to a State that is making good faith efforts to imple- ment these amendments.’’ EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 1210, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2163, provided that: ‘‘This subpart [subpart A (§§ 1207–1210) of part F of chapter XII of title II of Pub. L. 98–473, see Short Title note below] and the amend- ments made by this subpart shall take effect on Octo- ber 1, 1984.’’ SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 1207, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2153, provided that: ‘‘This subpart [subpart A (§§ 1207–1210) of part F of chapter XII of title II of Pub. L. 98–473, enacting this chapter, repealing provisions set out as a note preceding section 3481 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as a note under this section] may be cited as the ‘Witness Security Reform Act of 1984’.’’ § 3522. Probationers and parolees (a) A probation officer may, upon the request of the Attorney General, supervise any person provided protection under this chapter who is on probation or parole under State law, if the State involved consents to such supervision. Any per- son so supervised shall be under Federal juris- diction during the period of supervision and shall, during that period be subject to all laws of the United States which pertain to probationers or parolees, as the case may be. (b) The failure by any person provided protec- tion under this chapter who is supervised under subsection (a) to comply with the memorandum of understanding entered into by that person pursuant to section 3521(d) of this title shall be grounds for the revocation of probation or pa- role, as the case may be. (c) The United States Parole Commission and the Chairman of the Commission shall have the same powers and duties with respect to a proba- tioner or parolee transferred from State super- vision pursuant to this section as they have with respect to an offender convicted in a court of the United States and paroled under chapter 311 1 of this title. The provisions of sections 4201 through 4204, 4205(a), (e), and (h), 4206 through 4215, and 4218 1 of this title shall apply following a revocation of probation or parole under this section. (d) If a person provided protection under this chapter who is on probation or parole and is su- pervised under subsection (a) of this section has been ordered by the State court which imposed sentence on the person to pay a sum of money to the victim of the offense involved for damage caused by the offense, that penalty or award of damages may be enforced as though it were a civil judgment rendered by a United States dis- trict court. Proceedings to collect the moneys ordered to be paid may be instituted by the At- torney General in any United States district court. Moneys recovered pursuant to such pro- ceedings shall be distributed to the victim. (Added Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 1208, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2157; amended Pub. L. 99–646, § 75, Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3618; Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7072(b), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4405.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Chapter 311 of this title, referred to in subsec. (c), which consisted of sections 4201 to 4218 of this title, was repealed effective Nov. 1, 1987, by Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §§ 218(a)(5), 235(a)(1), (b)(1), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2027, 2031, 2032, subject to remaining effective for five years after Nov. 1, 1987, in certain circumstances. AMENDMENTS 1988—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100–690 substituted ‘‘4215’’ for ‘‘4216’’. 1986—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–646 substituted ‘‘proba- tioners or parolees, as the case may be’’ for ‘‘parolees’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Oct. 1, 1984, see section 1210 of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as a note under section 3521 of this title. § 3523. Civil judgments (a) If a person provided protection under this chapter is named as a defendant in a civil cause of action arising prior to or during the period in which the protection is provided, process in the civil proceeding may be served upon that person or an agent designated by that person for that purpose. The Attorney General shall make rea- sonable efforts to serve a copy of the process upon the person protected at the person’s last known address. The Attorney General shall no- tify the plaintiff in the action whether such process has been served. If a judgment in such action is entered against that person the Attor- ney General shall determine whether the person has made reasonable efforts to comply with the judgment. The Attorney General shall take ap- propriate steps to urge the person to comply with the judgment. If the Attorney General de- termines that the person has not made reason- able efforts to comply with the judgment, the Attorney General may, after considering the danger to the person and upon the request of the person holding the judgment disclose the iden- tity and location of the person to the plaintiff entitled to recovery pursuant to the judgment. Any such disclosure of the identity and location of the person shall be made upon the express condition that further disclosure by the plaintiff of such identity or location may be made only if essential to the plaintiff’s efforts to recover under the judgment, and only to such additional persons as is necessary to effect the recovery. Any such disclosure or nondisclosure by the At- torney General shall not subject the United States and its officers or employees to any civil liability. (b)(1) Any person who holds a judgment en- tered by a Federal or State court in his or her favor against a person provided protection under this chapter may, upon a decision by the Attor- ney General to deny disclosure of the current identity and location of such protected person, bring an action against the protected person in the United States district court in the district where the person holding the judgment (herein- Page 790 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 3524 after in this subsection referred to as the ‘‘peti- tioner’’) resides. Such action shall be brought within one hundred and twenty days after the petitioner requested the Attorney General to disclose the identity and location of the pro- tected person. The complaint in such action shall contain statements that the petitioner holds a valid judgment of a Federal or State court against a person provided protection under this chapter and that the petitioner sought to enforce the judgment by requesting the Attorney General to disclose the identity and location of the protected person. (2) The petitioner in an action described in paragraph (1) shall notify the Attorney General of the action at the same time the action is brought. The Attorney General shall appear in the action and shall affirm or deny the state- ments in the complaint that the person against whom the judgment is allegedly held is provided protection under this chapter and that the peti- tioner requested the Attorney General to dis- close the identity and location of the protected person for the purpose of enforcing the judg- ment. (3) Upon a determination (A) that the peti- tioner holds a judgment entered by a Federal or State court and (B) that the Attorney General has declined to disclose to the petitioner the current identity and location of the protected person against whom the judgment was entered, the court shall appoint a guardian to act on be- half of the petitioner to enforce the judgment. The clerk of the court shall forthwith furnish the guardian with a copy of the order of appoint- ment. The Attorney General shall disclose to the guardian the current identity and location of the protected person and any other informa- tion necessary to enable the guardian to carry out his or her duties under this subsection. (4) It is the duty of the guardian to proceed with all reasonable diligence and dispatch to en- force the rights of the petitioner under the judg- ment. The guardian shall, however, endeavor to carry out such enforcement duties in a manner that maximizes, to the extent practicable, the safety and security of the protected person. In no event shall the guardian disclose the new identity or location of the protected person without the permission of the Attorney General, except that such disclosure may be made to a Federal or State court in order to enforce the judgment. Any good faith disclosure made by the guardian in the performance of his or her duties under this subsection shall not create any civil liability against the United States or any of its officers or employees. (5) Upon appointment, the guardian shall have the power to perform any act with respect to the judgment which the petitioner could perform, including the initiation of judicial enforcement actions in any Federal or State court or the as- signment of such enforcement actions to a third party under applicable Federal or State law. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure shall apply in any action brought under this subsection to en- force a Federal or State court judgment. (6) The costs of any action brought under this subsection with respect to a judgment, including any enforcement action described in paragraph (5), and the compensation to be allowed to a guardian appointed in any such action shall be fixed by the court and shall be apportioned among the parties as follows: the petitioner shall be assessed in the amount the petitioner would have paid to collect on the judgment in an action not arising under the provisions of this subsection; the protected person shall be as- sessed the costs which are normally charged to debtors in similar actions and any other costs which are incurred as a result of an action brought under this subsection. In the event that the costs and compensation to the guardian are not met by the petitioner or by the protected person, the court may, in its discretion, enter judgment against the United States for costs and fees reasonably incurred as a result of the action brought under this subsection. (7) No officer or employee of the Department of Justice shall in any way impede the efforts of a guardian appointed under this subsection to enforce the judgment with respect to which the guardian was appointed. (c) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a court order to which section 3524 of this title applies. (Added Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 1208, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2157.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, referred to in subsec. (b)(5), are set out in the Appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Oct. 1, 1984, see section 1210 of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as a note under section 3521 of this title. § 3524. Child custody arrangements (a) The Attorney General may not relocate any child in connection with protection pro- vided to a person under this chapter if it appears that a person other than that protected person has legal custody of that child. (b) Before protection is provided under this chapter to any person (1) who is a parent of a child of whom that person has custody, and (2) who has obligations to another parent of that child with respect to custody or visitation of that child under a court order, the Attorney General shall obtain and examine a copy of such order for the purpose of assuring that compli- ance with the order can be achieved. If compli- ance with a visitation order cannot be achieved, the Attorney General may provide protection under this chapter to the person only if the par- ent being relocated initiates legal action to modify the existing court order under sub- section (e)(1) of this section. The parent being relocated must agree in writing before being provided protection to abide by any ensuing court orders issued as a result of an action to modify. (c) With respect to any person provided protec- tion under this chapter (1) who is the parent of a child who is relocated in connection with such protection and (2) who has obligations to an-