STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1213

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1107

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1107, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COMPUTER CRIME,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Add aggravated harassment by stalking to the list of offenses upon which the offense of use of a computer in the commission of a separate crime may be based; and

 

     (2)  Provide the court with the discretion to require the forfeiture of property used in computer crimes if the perpetrator was a minor, regardless of whether the minor owned the property.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Honolulu Police Department, LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education and Office of Public Defender.

 

     Your Committee finds that bullying, cyberbullying, and harassment are serious issues that hinder student well-being and achievement, especially when the targets are vulnerable youth.  Your Committee further finds that although the Department of Education has recently implemented comprehensive efforts to address bullying, cyberbullying, and harassment in public schools, including the adoption of amended administrative rules that, among other things, provide expanded definitions of and complaint procedures for these forms of student misconduct, the transition to online classroom environments as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has exacerbated the problems of bullying, cyberbullying, and harassment of vulnerable youth.  This measure will provide further incentive to parents and guardians to better ensure that their minor children refrain from using electronic devices to perpetrate bullying, cyberbullying, and harassment.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1107, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1107, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

 

 

 

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair