A bill to amend title 28 to provide protection to all jurors in Federal cases to clarify the compensation of attorneys for jurors in protecting their employment rights, and authorizing the service of jury summonses by ordinary mail.
Public Law 97-463 · S. 2863 · 97th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Jan 12, 1983 · Law
Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Cosponsors: None
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Authorizes a court to award a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs to a prevailing employee who sued his or her employer because of discrimination arising from jury service. Authorizes a court to award a prevailing employer in such a suit a reasonable attorney's fee only if the employee's suit is found to have been frivolous, or brought in bad faith.
Authorizes the service of jury summonses by first-class mail.
Provides workers' compensation coverage to a Federal employee while serving as a Federal juror.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 14 actions.
- Jan 12, 1983Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-463.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jan 3, 1983PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Dec 21, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
- FloorFloor · Called up by House by Unanimous Consent.
- FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Dec 8, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Nov 29, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Sep 23, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Sep 16, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Aug 19, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.