There are presently at least 30 states that have a statute defining and protecting parental rights, or case law that interprets parental interests as a fundamental right. Delaware has neither. This proposal is the first leg of a constitutional amendment affirming that parents have a fundamental right to the care, custody and control of their children. The amendment contains two important protections with regard to government agencies asserting authority over children. The amendment would require government officials to prove that the proposed action was needed. If successful, government officials would be limited to taking the least intrusive means to accomplish their goal. This amendment would not shield neglectful or abusive parents, nor would it interfere with the obligation of government to protect the welfare of children. Since 2013, eight states have enacted laws defining and protecting parental rights. This measure shall be named the Parental Rights Protection Amendment.
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The Act protects the life of the unborn child at a time when the potential for the child to survive outside the womb increases, especially with the advancement of medical procedures. Specifically, this Act repeals the current sections of the Delaware Code relating to termination of human pregnancy and enacts The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Substantial medical evidence exists that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain by 20 weeks after fertilization. As set forth in this Act, the General Assembly has the constitutional authority to make this judgment under decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. In enacting The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, Delaware is not asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn or replace the holding in Roe v. Wade. Rather, it asserts a separate and independent compelling state interest in unborn human life that exists once the unborn child is capable of experiencing pain.
This Act continues the changes made to the Delaware Performance Appraisal System II created under Senate Bill 42 of the 151st General Assembly, with modifications. In order to maintain an evaluation system under current operational challenges, this bill modifies Senate Bill 42 by allowing evidence collected during the observation and feedback cycle to be used a part of the evaluation cycle, to assign a summative rating, and to place educators on improvement plans, if needed. Additionally, this bill extends the pilot for the Delaware Teacher Growth and Support System, created under House Bill 133 of the 151st General Assembly, to the 2022-2023 school year, moving the start date for statewide implementation to the 2023-2024 school year. This bill also reconciles inconsistencies that have arisen with educators’ hearing rights as outlined in Chapter 14 of Title 14 due to the suspension of the state assessment in 2019-2020 school year and low participation in the 2020-2021 school year. Additionally, this bill aligns Chapter 14 with the new educator evaluation system, the Delaware Teacher Growth and Support System, by placing the emphasis on building a culture of professionalism and learning within every school, which is measured in a summative evaluation, rather than one component of an evaluation. This substitute bill is substantively the same as House Bill No. 291. Some technical corrections were made to accommodate language in 14 Del. C. § 1270(g) that was scheduled to sunset in 2022.
While Delaware has, for the most part, escaped the extreme actions of mobs experienced elsewhere, and enjoyed the benefits of mostly peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights by people seriously expressing a perceived need for change, other jurisdictions have been faced with situations where a lack of sufficient legal tools have impeded the ability of authorities to adequately protect both public and private property as well as the lives of the innocent. This Act is one of 4 Acts designed to address those weaknesses and to ensure that should they be needed, Delawareans will be properly and appropriately protected. The Acts provide the courts, law enforcement, and prosecutors with additional tools with which to deal with destructive and dangerous conduct during times of civil disorder. Specifically, this Act creates the crime of riotous destruction of a public monument.
While Delaware has, for the most part, escaped the extreme actions of mobs experienced elsewhere, and enjoyed the benefits of mostly peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights by people seriously expressing a perceived need for change, other jurisdictions have been faced with situations where a lack of sufficient legal tools have impeded the ability of authorities to adequately protect both public and private property as well as the lives of the innocent. This Act is one of 4 Acts designed to address those weaknesses and to ensure that should they be needed, Delawareans will be properly and appropriately protected. The Acts provide the courts, law enforcement, and prosecutors with additional tools with which to deal with destructive and dangerous conduct during times of civil disorder. Specifically, this Act creates the crime of looting, which is classified as a class C felony.
While Delaware has, for the most part, escaped the extreme actions of mobs experienced elsewhere, and enjoyed the benefits of mostly peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights by people seriously expressing a perceived need for change, other jurisdictions have been faced with situations where a lack of sufficient legal tools have impeded the ability of authorities to adequately protect both public and private property as well as the lives of the innocent. This Act is one of 4 Acts designed to address those weaknesses and to ensure that should they be needed, Delawareans will be properly and appropriately protected. The Acts provide the courts, law enforcement, and prosecutors with additional tools with which to deal with destructive and dangerous conduct during times of civil disorder. Specifically, this Act creates the crime of riotous burning, which is a class B felony, unless another individual is injured as a result of the riotous burning, in which case it is a class A felony.
While Delaware has, for the most part, escaped the extreme actions of mobs experienced elsewhere, and enjoyed the benefits of mostly peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights by people seriously expressing a perceived need for change, other jurisdictions have been faced with situations where a lack of sufficient legal tools have impeded the ability of authorities to adequately protect both public and private property as well as the lives of the innocent. This Act is one of 4 Acts designed to address those weaknesses and to ensure that should they be needed, Delawareans will be properly and appropriately protected. The Acts provide the courts, law enforcement, and prosecutors with additional tools with which to deal with destructive and dangerous conduct during times of civil disorder. Specifically, this Act enhances the existing law by making it a crime to do the following: (1) Unlawfully manufacture, transfer, or possess, during a civil disorder event, a bomb, incendiary device, Molotov cocktail, or device designed to explode or produce uncontained combustion. (2) Throw, launch, or otherwise use an ignited or otherwise activated bomb, incendiary device, Molotov cocktail, or device designed to explode or produce uncontained combustion during a civil disorder event. (3) Throw, launch, or otherwise use an ignited or otherwise activated bomb, incendiary device, Molotov cocktail, or device designed to explode or produce uncontained combustion during a civil disorder event and injure another person. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act generally requires a student athlete to compete for athletic teams or in sports associated with their biological sex, as determined at or near birth and based on the student’s birth certificate or other government record if a birth certificate is unobtainable. An exception is permitted to allow female athletes to compete in male sports if a corresponding female sport is not available. To facilitate this Act, a school district, charter school, Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association member school, or higher education institution must designate an athletic team or sport sponsored by the school district, charter school, Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association member school, or higher education institution based on the biological sex of students.
This Concurrent Resolution recognizes January 16, 2022, as "Religious Freedom Day" in Delaware.
This Act funds the Human Trafficking Interagency Coordinating Council by disbursing to the Council $100,000 each fiscal year from the Fund to Combat Violent Crimes. Under § 4101(h) of Title 11, the Fund to Combat Violent Crimes is funded by a $15 penalty imposed on and collected from defendants for certain crimes or civil violations. The money within the Fund is divided between the Department of Safety and Homeland Security and local law-enforcement agencies for use in connection with initiatives to combat violent crime. No more than $4,250,000 may be deposited into the Fund. Any amount more than $4,250,000 reverts to the General Fund. In recent fiscal years, the Fund to Combat Violent Crimes has reverted excess funds to the General Fund. Because of the new disbursement of $100,000 to the Human Trafficking Interagency Coordinating Council, this Act also increases the maximum amount of money that may be deposited into the Fund to Combat Violent Crimes by $100,000 to $4,350,000. This Act also adds to existing reporting requirements for the Human Trafficking Interagency Coordinating Council that the Council document how it spends disbursements from the Fund to Combat Violent Crimes. The Council must also provide the report to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.