STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1390

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: S.B. No. 823
                                     S.D. 1
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was
referred S.B. No. 823, S.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SENTENCING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to require judges, when imposing
a sentence, to consider the fact that the crime was committed in
the presence of a minor as an aggravating factor of the crime.

     The Honolulu Police Department, the Domestic Violence
Clearinghouse, the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic
Violence, the Windward Oahu Branch of the American Association of
University Women, and several individuals testified in support of
this bill.  Child & Family Service testified in support of the
intent of this bill.  The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney
of the City and County of Honolulu and the Hawaii State
Commission on the Status of Women testified in support of the
intent of this bill with suggested amendments.  The Office of the
Public Defender submitted comments on this bill.

     Children who witness domestic violence are harmed in many
ways.  Domestic violence is a perpetuation of a violent cycle,
and children of abuse grow up to be abusers themselves.
Therefore, your Committee finds that when a crime of domestic
violence is committed in the presence of a child, the batterer
should receive an enhanced penalty for the added trauma caused to
the secondary victims of the offense.

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1390
                                 Page 2

 
     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
bill by adding a provision that recommends the addition of family
court sentencing guidelines to consider whether:

     (1)  There was a temporary restraining order, injunction, or
          other court order in effect, protecting the victim of
          the crime from the defendant; and

     (2)  The victim was pregnant at the time of the offense, and
          the defendant knew or reasonably should have known of
          the victim's condition.

     Your Committee is concerned about the City and County of
Honolulu Prosecutor's comments regarding "aggravating factors"
and respectfully requests that the Committee on Judiciary and
Hawaiian Affairs review the legal ramifications of this issue.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this
report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose
of S.B. No. 823, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that
it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No.
823, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on
Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Human Services
                                   and Housing,



                                   ______________________________
                                   DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair