II
Calendar No. 34
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 539
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 7, 2005
Mr. Martinez (for himself, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Santorum, and Mr. Brownback) introduced the following bill; which was read the first time
March 8, 2005
Read the second time and placed on the calendar
A BILL
To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide the protections of habeas corpus for certain incapacitated individuals whose life is in jeopardy, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection
Act of 2005
.
Findings and purposes
Findings
Congress finds the following:
Under the 14th amendment to
the Constitution of the United States, No State . . . shall deprive any
person of life . . . without due process of law . . . nor deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
.
Section 5 of the 14th
amendment empowers Congress to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the
provisions
of the amendment. The United States Supreme Court has held
that under this section, while Congress may not work a substantive
change in the governing law
under the other sections of the 14th
amendment, it may adopt remedial measures exhibiting a congruence and
proportionality between the injury to be prevented or remedied and the means
adopted to that end.
. Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509, 124 S. Ct. 1978,
1986 (2004) quoting City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507, 520 (1997).
Purposes
It is the purpose of this Act—
to facilitate balancing the acknowledged right of persons to refuse consent to medical treatment and unwanted bodily intrusions with the right to consent to treatment, food, and fluids so as to preserve their lives; and
in circumstances in which there is a contested judicial proceeding because of a dispute about the expressed previous wishes or best interests of a person presently incapable of making known a choice concerning treatment, food, and fluids the denial of which will result in death, to provide that the fundamental due process and equal protection rights of incapacitated persons are protected by ensuring the availability of collateral review through habeas corpus proceedings.
Extension of habeas protections
In general
Chapter 153 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking section 2256 and inserting the following:
Extension of habeas protections to certain persons subject to court orders
For the purposes of this chapter, an incapacitated person shall be deemed to be in custody under sentence of a court established by Congress, or deemed to be in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court, as the case may be, when an order of such a court authorizes or directs the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain the person’s life. In a habeas corpus proceeding under this section the person having custody shall be deemed to encompass those parties authorized or directed by the court order to withdraw or withhold food, fluids, or medical treatment, and there shall be no requirement to produce at the hearing the body of the incapacitated person.
Subsection (a) does not apply in the case of a judicial proceeding in which no party disputes, and the court finds, that the incapacitated person, while having capacity, had executed a written advance directive valid under applicable law that clearly authorized the withholding or withdrawal of food or fluids or medical treatment in the applicable circumstances.
As used in this section, the term incapacitated person means an individual who is presently incapable of making relevant decisions concerning the provision, withholding, or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment under applicable State law.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to create substantive rights not otherwise secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States or of the several States.
.
Clerical amendment
The item relating to section 2256 in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 153 of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
2256. Extension of habeas protections to certain persons subject to court orders.
.
Prospective effect
The remedies specified by this Act shall be available on behalf of any incapacitated person deemed to be in custody by its terms who is alive on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
March 8, 2005
Read the second time and placed on the calendar