This Senate Concurrent Resolution honors and recognizes the leadership, achievements, and sacrifices of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and urges all citizens of the First State to participate fittingly in the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 17, 2022.
This bill adopts a key recommendation of the Child Protection Accountability Commission Caseloads and Workloads final report approved on November 20, 2019 that child protection treatment caseload standards be reduced from 18 to 12 families per worker. This report concluded that child protection treatment worker caseload standards within the Division of Family Services present significant safety risks to children and families. Due to the volume of work generated by a caseload of 18 families, workers are significantly restricted in the time workers can spend on critical case activities, such as family engagement, assessment of safety, and face-to-face contact with children and families. Section 2 states that funding will be phased in over two fiscal years beginning in FY23.
The 18-month recidivism rate among juveniles released from Delaware’s Level 4 and Level 5 juvenile detention facilities is over 80%. This Act creates a fund to allow the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and their Families to award competitive grants for the targeted provision of services that have been proven effective in helping juveniles avoid contact with the criminal justice system. This Act also allocates $500,000 for FY 2022 to the Fund for provision of cognitive behavioral therapy services and vocational training services. Finally, the bill updates outdated language.
United States Supreme Court case law and scientific research has changed how we think about juvenile delinquency. We know now that an adolescent’s brain is not fully developed until the mid-twenties which makes juveniles especially prone to poor decision-making. In the landmark case of Miller v. Alabama, in which the United States Supreme Court prohibited mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles on the rationale that children are inherently different than adults, the Court relied not only scientific research but on common sense and what any parent knows: kids will be kids. Children in Delaware have minimum ages set for many things: getting a driver’s license, enlisting in the military, applying for a loan or opening a credit card, using a tanning bed, drinking alcohol, and buying tickets to an R-rated movie. This legislation sets a minimum age at which a child may be prosecuted, except for the most extreme offenses. This Bill prohibits the prosecution of children under the age of 12. It also bars the transfer of juvenile prosecution to the Superior Court unless the child is aged 16 or older. The exception to the prohibition on prosecuting children under 12 and transfer to Superior Court for children under 16, is only for the most serious of charges: murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, rape in the first and rape in the second degree or accused of using, displaying, or discharging a firearm during the commission of a Title 11 or a Title 31 violent felony set forth in § 4201(c) of Title 11. However, the bill allows for the prosecution of children under 12 for title 11 violent felonies and misdemeanor crimes of violence until January 1, 2022, when prosecution of such children will expire and thereafter children under the age of 12 who are suspected of committing a Title 11 violent felony or misdemeanor violent felony will be referred to the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program.
Confessions are powerful evidence of guilt. Therefore, this Act adopts the Uniform Law Commission's Uniform Electronic Recordation of Custodial Interrogations Act to promote truth-finding, promote efficiency, and protect constitutional values. Specifically, this Act mandates electronic recording of the custodial interrogation process by law enforcement when the interrogation relates to a crime allegedly committed by an adult or a delinquent act allegedly committed by a child. The type of recording required, either audio or audio and video, depends on the location of the custodial interrogation. Recognizing that a blanket requirement of recording electronically all interrogations is not feasible, this Act provides 5 exceptions to the recording mandate: (1) exigent circumstances, (2) an individual's refusal to be recorded, (3) interrogations occurring in other jurisdictions, (4) when the interrogator or interrogator's supervisor reasonably believes electronic recording would reveal a confidential informant's identity or jeopardize the safety of the officer, the individual interrogated, or another individual, and (5) equipment malfunctions. Further, this Act requires the prosecution to notify the defense of an intention to introduce an unrecorded statement and of the exception that permitted the lack of recording. This Act requires the prosecution to prove by clear and convincing evidence that an exception applies. This Act also prescribes remedies for violations of the electronic recording requirement, including the giving of a cautionary instruction to the jury. Additionally, this Act provides civil immunity for both law enforcement officers and law enforcement agencies. Finally, this Act requires the Council on Police Training to adopt rules to implement this Act, which are to be enforced by each law enforcement agency.
This Act expands the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust’s responsibility to review deadly use of force incidents by law enforcement by adding review of cases involving serious physical injury. It also requires that if the Division issues a public report on the use of force, the report must include the race of the law enforcement officer who used force, the race of the individual on whom force was used, and whether race was a relevant or motivating factor.
This Act expands eligibility for mandatory expungement of adult and juvenile cases by doing all of the following: 1. Aligns eligibility for juvenile expungement so that all cases eligible for adult expungement are eligible for juvenile expungement. 2. Allows all cases terminated in favor of the accused and cases for underage possession or consumption of alcohol under § 904(e) or (f) of Title 4, possession of marijuana under § 4764 of Title 16, or possession of drug paraphernalia under § 4771 of Title 16 to be expunged, regardless of prior or subsequent adjudications or convictions. 3. Repeals § 4764(j) of Title 16 because this Act makes cases for marijuana possession eligible for mandatory expungement under § 1017 of Title 10 and § 4374 of Title 11. 4. If a person has no prior or subsequent convictions, makes a case for drug possession under § 4756 of Title 16 eligible for mandatory expungement 5 years after conviction. Juvenile adjudications of delinquency for drug possession under § 4756 of Title 16 are already eligible for mandatory expungement so no corresponding change is necessary to § 1017 of Title 10. 5. If a person has no prior or subsequent convictions, makes additional felony convictions eligible for mandatory expungement 10 years after conviction. Juvenile adjudications of delinquency for these felonies are already eligible for mandatory expungement so no corresponding change is necessary to § 1017 of Title 10. 6. Applies existing exceptions for eligibility for mandatory expungement because of the status of the victim to the offenses that become eligible under this Act. 7. Makes corresponding changes to other expungement sections in Title 10. This Act adds a misdemeanor conviction for official misconduct to the offenses that are ineligible for mandatory expungement under § 4373(b) of Title 11. This Act does not make any offenses that are currently ineligible for mandatory expungement under § 4373(b) of Title 11 eligible for mandatory expungement. This Act takes effect on January 1, 2022. Section 10 of this Act aligns this Act with the changes to § 4373 of Title 11 if Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 38 is also enacted into law in 2021. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act creates an automatic expungement process for adult and juvenile charges that are eligible for mandatory expungement because under the petition-based system, only a small fraction of people eligible for expungement ever obtain this important relief. Under this Act, the State Bureau of Identification must identify and expunge cases eligible for automatic mandatory expungement on a monthly basis. This Act is effective immediately and will be implemented on August 1, 2024. Implementing the automatic expungement process requires coordination between different courts and state agencies. This Act is known as “The Clean Slate Act”. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill prohibits law-enforcement agencies from releasing or publishing or causing to be released or published the name of any juvenile or any image depicting a juvenile, including displaying such image on any publicly maintained social media page or website, unless the juvenile is charged with a violent felony, and release or publication of the photograph is necessary to protect the public’s safety.
This Concurrent Resolution requests an advisory opinion of the Justices of the Delaware Supreme Court regarding the proper construction of § 13 of Article III of the Delaware Constitution. This Resolution also tasks the Judiciary Committee of the House and Senate who shall meet jointly on or before December 17, 2021 to determine the process to be used to decide if reasonable cause exists for the removal of an elected official pursuant to § 13 of Article III of the Delaware Constitution.
