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February 7, 2011

Bills Introduced to the Rhode Island House (Criminal and Civil Offense Focus), January 25 - February 3

Carroll Andrew Morse

Significant Rewrites with Statewide Impact

H5125Defines crimes of assault, battery and manslaughter against an unborn child. (Same as H5029?)
H5129Changes registration and notification requirements for sexual offenders.
H5132From the official description: "This act would require the collection of DNA samples for any person arrested for a crime of violence [and] expand the list of crimes for which a DNA sample is required".
H5257Sets rules for using restraints on pregnant prisoners.
H5263From the official description: "This act would amend the law banning racial profiling in traffic stops by state and municipal law enforcement agencies by imposing additional requirements upon law enforcement agencies to collect data and complete regular reports of findings and statistics regarding traffic stops".

Targeted Changes with Statewide Impact

H5122Requires drivers ticketed for a third traffic violation within a 12-month period to appear in court. (Comment: I'm pretty sure this doesn't apply to parking tickets, but only to offenses where a vehicle is being operated.).
H5124Adds libraries to the list of locations that trigger double-penalties for producing or selling drugs within 300 yards of them.
H5130Police can conduct an alcohol or a drug test during a traffic-stop, but not both (right now, they are allowed to do both).
H5131Reduces from 6 to 4 the number of state district court divisions (The municipalities of Bristol County [currently the 1st division], of northern Providence County [the current 5th division] and Providence and East Providence [the current 6th division] get pulled into a single division).
H5181From the official description: "This act would permit parents of a deceased child who are divorced, separated, living apart or never married to file a motion requesting the judge to apportion fairly any amount awarded in a wrongful death action".
H5182Reduces the amount of unpaid child support classified as a felony from $10,000 to $5,000. Companion to S0023.
H5212Adds "little cigars, flavored cigars known as “blunts” unflavored “blunts”, flavored and unflavored blunt wraps, cigarette rolling papers of any size or composition, cigarillos, and tiparillos" to the list of tobacco products that cannot be purchased by individuals younger than 18 years of age.
H5213Second offense for possession of marijuana would be a misdemeanor.
H5214Specifies that penalties for violating the terms of parole or a deferred sentence cannot lead to a term of imprisonment that exceeds the original sentence.
H5216 From the official description: "This act would allow that if child support has been terminated, suspended or expired the court can re-establish child support if the child has severe mental impairment or a severe impairment if the situation fits the criteria and factors in this statute".
H5222Applicants for DCYF jobs would be required to undergo a BCI check.
H5259Makes clear that any party to a civil action who is over 65 years age can request an acceleration of the action.
H5261"Petty misdemeanors" involving domestic violence can trigger enhanced penalties. Companion to S0070
H5262Being deployed out-of-state as part of military service cannot by itself be the cause of modifying a child-custody order. Companion to S0024
H5264Adds "cyberstalking and cyberharassment" to the list of crimes that can be defined as domestic violence.

Comments

With regard to H5212, can someone check with Grace Diaz if she'd still outlaw cellophane?

Posted by: Patrick at February 7, 2011 9:36 PM