Report Title:
Child Abuse; Felony
Description:
Toughens Hawaii's criminal laws for perpetrators of child abuse.
|
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
330 |
|
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001 |
||
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
||
|
|
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO CHILDREN.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that children are Hawaii's most precious assets. To protect them from the injustice of abuse and neglect, the legislature formed a legislative roundtable to suggest statutory, guideline, rule, regulation, or other changes to improve Hawaii's child protection system. From these discussions, the legislature found, among other things, that a key factor to prevent child abuse is through deterrence, namely, harsher criminal penalties for child abusers.
The purpose of this Act is to toughen Hawaii's criminal laws for perpetrators of child abuse.
SECTION 2. Chapter 707, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§707- Child abuse in the first degree. (1) A person commits the offense of child abuse in the first degree if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes serious bodily injury to a minor twelve years of age or younger.
(2) Child abuse in the first degree is a class A felony.
§707- Child abuse in the second degree. (1) A person commits the offense of child abuse in the second degree if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes substantial bodily injury to a minor twelve years of age or younger.
(2) Child abuse in the second degree is a class B felony."
SECTION 3. Section 703-309, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§703-309 Use of force by persons with special responsibility for care, discipline, or safety of others. The use of force upon or toward the person of another is justifiable under the following circumstances:
(1) The actor is the parent or guardian or other person similarly responsible for the general care and supervision of a minor, or a person acting at the request of the parent, guardian, or other responsible person, and:
(a) The force is employed with due regard for the age [and], size, and condition of the minor and is reasonably related to the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of the minor, including the prevention or punishment of the minor's misconduct; and
(b) The force used is not designed to cause or known to create a risk of causing substantial bodily injury, disfigurement, extreme pain or mental distress, or neurological damage.
(2) The actor is a teacher or a person otherwise entrusted with the care or supervision for a special purpose of a minor, and:
(a) The actor believes that the force used is necessary to further that special purpose, including maintenance of reasonable discipline in a school, class, or other group, and that the use of force is consistent with the welfare of the minor; and
(b) The degree of force, if it had been used by the parent or guardian of the minor, would not be unjustifiable under paragraph (1)(b).
(3) The actor is the guardian or other person similarly responsible for the general care and supervision of an incompetent person, and:
(a) The force is employed with due regard for the age and size of the incompetent person and is reasonably related to the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of the incompetent person, including the prevention of the incompetent person's misconduct, or, when such incompetent person is in a hospital or other institution for the incompetent person's care and custody, for the maintenance of reasonable discipline in the institution; and
(b) The force used is not designed to cause or known to create a risk of causing substantial bodily injury, disfigurement, extreme pain or mental distress, or neurological damage.
(4) The actor is a doctor or other therapist or a person assisting the doctor or therapist at the doctor's or therapist's direction, and:
(a) The force is used for the purpose of administering a recognized form of treatment which the actor believes to be adapted to promoting the physical or mental health of the patient; and
(b) The treatment is administered with the consent of the patient, or, if the patient is a minor or an incompetent person, with the consent of the minor's or incompetent person's parent or guardian or other person legally competent to consent in the minor's or incompetent person's behalf, or the treatment is administered in an emergency when the actor believes that no one competent to consent can be consulted and that a reasonable person, wishing to safeguard the welfare of the patient, would consent.
(5) The actor is a warden or other authorized official of a correctional institution, and:
(a) The actor believes that the force used is necessary for the purpose of enforcing the lawful rules or procedures of the institution; and
(b) The nature or degree of force used is not forbidden by other provisions of the law governing the conduct of correctional institutions; and
(c) If deadly force is used, its use is otherwise justifiable under this chapter.
(6) The actor is a person responsible for the safety of a vessel or an aircraft or a person acting at the direction of the person responsible for the safety of a vessel or an aircraft, and:
(a) The actor believes that the force used is necessary to prevent interference with the operation of the vessel or aircraft or obstruction of the execution of a lawful order, unless the actor's belief in the lawfulness of the order is erroneous and the actor's error is due to ignorance or mistake as to the law defining authority; and
(b) If deadly force is used, its use is otherwise justifiable under this chapter.
(7) The actor is a person who is authorized or required by law to maintain order or decorum in a vehicle, train, or other carrier, or in a place where others are assembled, and:
(a) The actor believes that the force used is necessary for that purpose; and
(b) The force used is not designed to cause or known to create a substantial risk of causing death, bodily injury or extreme mental distress."
SECTION 4. Section 706-660.2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§706-660.2 Sentence of imprisonment for offenses against children, elder persons, or handicapped persons. Notwithstanding section 706-669, a person who, in the course of committing or attempting to commit a felony, causes the death or inflicts serious or substantial bodily injury upon a person who is:
(1) Sixty years of age or older;
(2) Blind, a paraplegic, or a quadriplegic; or
(3) [Eight] Twelve years of age or younger;
and such disability is known or reasonably should be known to the defendant, shall, if not subjected to an extended term of imprisonment pursuant to section 706-662, be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment without possibility of parole as follows:
(1) For murder in the second degree--fifteen years;
(2) For a class A felony--six years, eight months;
(3) For a class B felony--three years, four months;
(4) For a class C felony--one year, eight months."
SECTION 5. Section 706-662, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§706-662 Criteria for extended terms of imprisonment. A convicted defendant may be subject to an extended term of imprisonment under section 706-661, if the convicted defendant satisfies one or more of the following criteria:
(1) The defendant is a persistent offender whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless the defendant has previously been convicted of two felonies committed at different times when the defendant was eighteen years of age or older.
(2) The defendant is a professional criminal whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:
(a) The circumstances of the crime show that the defendant has knowingly engaged in criminal activity as a major source of livelihood; or
(b) The defendant has substantial income or resources not explained to be derived from a source other than criminal activity.
(3) The defendant is a dangerous person whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless the defendant has been subjected to a psychiatric or psychological evaluation that documents a significant history of dangerousness to others resulting in criminally violent conduct, and this history makes the defendant a serious danger to others. Nothing in this section precludes the introduction of victim-related data in order to establish dangerousness in accord with the Hawaii rules of evidence.
(4) The defendant is a multiple offender whose criminal actions were so extensive that a sentence of imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:
(a) The defendant is being sentenced for two or more felonies or is already under sentence of imprisonment for felony; or
(b) The maximum terms of imprisonment authorized for each of the defendant's crimes, if made to run consecutively would equal or exceed in length the maximum of the extended term imposed, or would equal or exceed forty years if the extended term imposed is for a class A felony.
(5) The defendant is an offender against the elder, handicapped, or minor under the age of [eight whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for the protection of the public.] twelve. The court shall not make this finding unless:
(a) The defendant attempts or commits any of the following crimes: murder, manslaughter, a sexual offense that constitutes a felony under chapter 707, robbery, felonious assault, child abuse in the first degree, child abuse in the second degree, burglary, or kidnapping; and
(b) The defendant, in the course of committing or attempting to commit the crime, inflicts serious or substantial bodily injury upon a person who is:
(i) Sixty years of age or older;
(ii) Blind, a paraplegic, or a quadriplegic; or
(iii) [Eight] Twelve years of age or younger; and
(c) Such disability is known or reasonably should be known to the defendant."
SECTION 6. Section 709-903.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (1) to read as follows:
"(1) Except as in subsection (2), a person commits the offense of endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree if, having care or custody of a minor, the person intentionally [or], knowingly, or recklessly allows another person to inflict serious or substantial bodily injury on the minor."
SECTION 7. Section 709-904, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§709-904 Endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree. [(1) Except as provided in section 709-903.5(2), a person commits the offense of endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree if, having care or custody of a minor, the person recklessly allows another person to inflict serious or substantial bodily injury on the minor.
(2)] (1) A person commits the offense of endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree if, being a parent, guardian, or other person whether or not charged with the care or custody of a minor, the person knowingly endangers the minor's physical or mental welfare by violating or interfering with any legal duty of care or protection owed such minor.
[(3)] (2) Endangering the welfare of a minor is a misdemeanor."
SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
|
INTRODUCED BY: |
_____________________________ |