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.
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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.
This Act supports children who spent part or all of their teen years in the State's foster care system to access higher education by providing a tuition waiver program to cover the cost of tuition, fees, and (where offered) room and board at a public Delaware college or university.
This Act mandates that the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Division of Public Health establish maximum contaminant levels for specific contaminants found in drinking water in this state. Such contaminants include PFOA and PFOS, which are man-made chemicals. In certain studies, these chemicals were found to be associated with increased risks of chronic diseases. The Environmental Protection Agency, thus far, has not established a maximum contaminant levels, but have issued health advisories. The establishment of maximum contaminant levels is essential in order to protect the health and safety of all Delawareans from contaminants in drinking water.
This Act is called the Jamie Wolfe Employment Act in recognition of Jamie Wolfe, a powerful disability rights advocate who worked tirelessly on behalf of people with disabilities for equal rights and equal access to education, housing, competitive and integrated employment, transportation and community-based services. The Act requires that authorization to pay individuals with disabilities less than the minimum wage required to be paid to other employees will be phased out by July 1, 2023. It is consistent with the goals of the Employment First Act enacted by the 146th General Assembly and with national trends. In September 2020, the United States Commission on Civil Rights recommended that 14(c) certificates be phased out. The Employment First Oversight Commission created in the Employment First Act is charged with the responsibility of developing and implementing a plan for the phase-out and insuring that the needs of affected providers and employees with disabilities working at less than minimum wage are considered as the phase-out is implemented.
This Act prohibits a person who is the subject of a Protection from Abuse Order of the Family Court and who knows or has reason to know, that the Order has been issued from purchasing, owning, possessing, or controlling a deadly weapon or ammunition for a firearm in this State. This Act also prohibits the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant, active indictment or information related to a felony or misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from purchasing a firearm. The subject of the pending criminal process must know or have reason to know that the process is pending in order for the prohibition to apply. This Act also makes technical changes to the existing law to make it conform to the Legislative Drafting Manual.
Section 1 of this bill establishes the crimes of possession of an unfinished firearm frame or receiver with no serial number, possession of and manufacturing a covert or undetectable firearm, possession of and manufacturing an untraceable firearm, and manufacturing or distributing a firearm using a three-dimensional printer. This bill also makes it a crime to possess a firearm frame or receiver with a removed, obliterated, or altered serial number. This bill makes very limited exceptions to the requirement that certain guns have serial numbers which are: (1) Firearms manufactured before 1968; (2) Muzzle loaders that only use black powder, and antique replicas. Finally, this bill makes clear that § 1463 of Title 11 concerning untraceable firearms does not apply to members of the military forces or members of a police force in this State duly authorized to carry an untraceable firearm, and does not apply to the manufacture or importation for sale to a law-enforcement or military entity in this State. Section 2 is a severability clause. Section 3 provides that Section 1459A of Title 11, which is possession of an unfinished firearm frame or receiver with no serial number, takes effect 90 days after the Act's enactment into law.
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 82. Like Senate Bill 82, this Substitute does all of the following: (1) Codifies the Department of Education’s (“Department”) current efforts to establish a uniform public school registration process and requires that, beginning with the 2023 through 2024 school year, all public schools shall use the uniform public school registration process. This registration process will simplify the process for families, enable public schools to engage with families and plan in advance of the school year, and integrate data systems to eliminate duplication of effort. (2) Requires the uniform public school registration process to be Internet-based and in paper form and in English and Spanish and may be in other languages. This Act also requires that certain information must be provided in the process and that the Internet-based uniform public school registration process must include certain features. (3)Requires the Department to provide training to certain school district and charter school employees regarding the uniform public school registration process and issue guidelines for privacy of information submitted as part of the registration process. (4) Requires the Department to report to the Governor and General Assembly, no later than March 14, 2022, on the Department’s ability to connect the Internet-based uniform public school registration process to other Internet-based systems that are used to collect student data by the State; the Department; a licensed child care provider, including Head Start; or a public school serving preschool through age 21. This Substitute differs from Senate Bill No. 82 by doing all of the following: (1) Clarifying that a student must be registered in the student’s school district of residence before being eligible for the school choice process. (2) Requiring a public school be certified as completing training from the Department on the uniform public school registration process before providing paper forms as part of the in-person registration process. (3) Requiring the Department to provide uniform information about the uniform public school registration process to public schools and requiring the public schools to post the information on the school’s website and in other publications. (4) Requiring a public school to provide a parent with certain information after the parent completes the registration process, including the public school and school in which the child is enrolled.
According to the Children’s Bureau within the Administration for Children & Families, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico have enacted infant safe haven laws that allow a parent to surrender a newborn without fear of prosecution. These laws vary in terms of where an infant can be surrendered. Delaware is among 16 states that only permit a baby to be surrendered to a hospital. Twenty-five states allow surrenders at fire stations and 25 states permit surrenders to personnel at police stations or other law enforcement agencies. This Act adds police stations to the designated safe havens where an individual may surrender a baby. This Act makes conforming amendments to other laws of this State based on this addition. Additionally, this Act codifies a portion of the original Safe Arms for Babies law, Chapter 187 of Volume 73 of the Laws of Delaware, that requires the Department of Health and Social Services to take certain actions related to the law. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.