Report Title:

Crime

Description:

Classifies crimes against tourists as hate crimes.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2888

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO CRIME.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that tourists play an integral part in our economy and way of life. Tourists help provide meaningful jobs to thousands of citizens, support hundreds of local businesses, and tourist dollars help to fund meaningful programs that the State provides to the people of Hawaii, such as health insurance for children, public education, health care coverage for the poor, immunizations at school, drug treatment programs, subsidized school lunches, repair and maintenance of school and state roads, and many others.

The legislature also finds that tourists, however, are also the target of crime in Hawaii. Obviously, being the unfortunate victim of a theft of cash or items or a physical assault would dampen any tourist's experience in Hawaii. Fortunately, programs like the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii (VASH) help to mitigate the problems a tourist faces when victimized by crime. When the choice of victim is due to the status of the victim as a tourist, however, the ramifications of the crime are far worse.

While a tourist victim of a crime may feel that the theft or assault was an isolated incident and not indicative of the aloha spirit, a tourist who is targeted because of the very fact he or she is a tourist may take any number of actions detrimental to our tourist industry and economy, including choosing not to return to Hawaii and advising friends and family never to come to Hawaii. The negative actions taken by tourists victimized simply because they are tourists can lead to layoffs in the tourist industry sector, and reduced tax dollars and funding for programs. Clearly, this situation is not acceptable. While programs such as VASH may help return some sense of enjoyment to a tourist experience marred by crime, criminalizing offenses against tourists because of the fact they are tourists would send a stronger message that Hawaii does care for its tourists and will provide a deterrent to crimes against tourists. The purpose of this Act is to include crimes committed against tourists because of their status as tourists as a hate crime.

SECTION 2. Section 706-662, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§706-662 Criteria for extended terms of imprisonment. A convicted defendant may be subject to an extended term of imprisonment under section 706-661, if the convicted defendant satisfies one or more of the following criteria:

(1) The defendant is a persistent offender whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless the defendant has previously been convicted of two felonies committed at different times when the defendant was eighteen years of age or older.

(2) The defendant is a professional criminal whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:

(a) The circumstances of the crime show that the defendant has knowingly engaged in criminal activity as a major source of livelihood; or

(b) The defendant has substantial income or resources not explained to be derived from a source other than criminal activity.

(3) The defendant is a dangerous person whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless the defendant has been subjected to a psychiatric or psychological evaluation that documents a significant history of dangerousness to others resulting in criminally violent conduct, and this history makes the defendant a serious danger to others. Nothing in this section precludes the introduction of victim-related data in order to establish dangerousness in accord with the Hawaii rules of evidence.

(4) The defendant is a multiple offender whose criminal actions were so extensive that a sentence of imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:

(a) The defendant is being sentenced for two or more felonies or is already under sentence of imprisonment for felony; or

(b) The maximum terms of imprisonment authorized for each of the defendant's crimes, if made to run consecutively would equal or exceed in length the maximum of the extended term imposed, or would equal or exceed forty years if the extended term imposed is for a class A felony.

(5) The defendant is an offender against the elderly, handicapped, or a minor under the age of eight, whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for the protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:

(a) The defendant attempts or commits any of the following crimes: murder, manslaughter, a sexual offense that constitutes a felony under chapter 707, robbery, felonious assault, burglary, or kidnapping; and

(b) The defendant, in the course of committing or attempting to commit the crime, inflicts serious or substantial bodily injury upon a person who is:

(i) Sixty years of age or older;

(ii) Blind, a paraplegic, or a quadriplegic; or

(iii) Eight years of age or younger; and

(c) Such disability is known or reasonably should be known to the defendant.

(6) The defendant is a hate crime offender whose imprisonment for an extended term is necessary for the protection of the public. The court shall not make this finding unless:

(a) The defendant is convicted of a crime under chapter 707, 708, or 711; and

(b) The defendant intentionally selected a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that was the object of a crime, because of hostility toward the actual or perceived race, religion, disability, ethnicity, national origin, status as a tourist, or sexual orientation of any person."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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