STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 598
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2023
RE: H.B. No. 1344
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2023
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1344 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ANGER MANAGEMENT,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to authorize certain criminal offenders to undergo anger management counseling in lieu of domestic violence intervention as part of their sentences.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure
from the Office of the Public Defender, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney
of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawai‘i State Coalition Against Domestic
Violence, Domestic Violence Action Center, Hawai‘i
Health & Harm Reduction Center, and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this
measure from the Judiciary.
Your Committee finds
that many of the mandatory domestic violence classes defendants must
participate in as part of their sentencing were designed for intimate partners
and were not intended for family or household members who are not in an
intimate relationship. As such, these
classes may not be appropriate for family conflicts that involve non-intimate
partner relationships, such as those between parents and children, siblings,
uncles and aunts and their nephews or nieces, or platonic housemates. This measure is intended to allow service
providers to provide more appropriate and targeted classes for defendants by
authorizing certain defendants to complete anger management counseling, rather
than domestic violence intervention counseling.
Your Committee
recognizes the hard work done by the Judiciary, Office of the Public Defender,
Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu,
Parents and Children Together, and Child Family Services to collaboratively
develop the language in this measure.
Your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Clarifying that a person who violates a
temporary restraining order must undergo a mandatory assessment before being
ordered to complete either a domestic violence intervention course or anger
management counseling;
(2) Inserting language permitting the court to
impose a sentence of anger management counseling in cases of domestic abuse
protective orders;
(3) Clarifying that a person who is sentenced or granted a motion for deferral for certain situations regarding abuse of a family or household member must first complete an assessment at a domestic violence intervention program before completing either a domestic violence intervention course or anger management counseling;
(4) Changing the effective date to July 30, 3000,
to encourage further discussion; and
(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments
for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1344, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1344, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,
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____________________________ JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair |
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