Act 180, HB 781 – Children; Custody; Custodial Interrogation; Constitutional Rights

Hawaii Acts of the 2023 Legislative Session

HB 781, Act 180

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO CHILDREN.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1.

This Act shall be known and may be cited as "James's Act"

SECTION 2.

The legislature finds that developmental and neurological science concludes that the process of cognitive brain development continues into adulthood, and that the human brain undergoes dynamic changes throughout adolescence and well into young adulthood

The legislature recognizes that the Supreme Court of the United States has found that "[c]hildren generally are less mature and responsible than adults, they often lack the experience, perspective, and judgment to recognize and avoid choices that could be detrimental to them, and they are more vulnerable or susceptible to . . . outside pressures than adults". J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 564 U.S. 261, 272 (2011) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Essentially, "children characteristically lack the capacity to exercise mature judgment and possess only an incomplete ability to understand the world around them"...