Protecting Miranda Rights for Kids Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2834 To protect minors from premature waiver of their constitutional rights during a custodial interrogation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 26, 2021 Mr. CA´RDENAS (for himself and Ms. BASS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To protect minors from premature waiver of their constitu- tional rights during a custodial interrogation, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Miranda 4 Rights for Kids Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. WAIVER OF MIRANDA RIGHTS BY A MINOR. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 223 of title 18, United 7 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3051 8 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2834.IH H2834 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2834 IH ‘‘§ 3501A. Custodial interrogation of a minor 1 ‘‘(a) NOTIFICATION.—Any law enforcement officer 2 who has arrested a minor for a violation of law shall notify 3 the minor’s parent, guardian, or legal custodian that the 4 minor has been arrested and shall provide the location of 5 where the minor is being detained. 6 ‘‘(b) WAIVER.—A minor who is subject to a custodial 7 interrogation may only waive the privilege against self-in- 8 crimination or the right to assistance of legal counsel if 9 the minor consults with legal counsel in person before such 10 waiver. 11 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 12 if— 13 ‘‘(1) custodial interrogation of a minor is nec- 14 essary to gather information to protect life from an 15 imminent threat; and 16 ‘‘(2) the questions that were asked during the 17 custodial interrogation were reasonably necessary to 18 obtain such information. 19 ‘‘(d) ASSIGNED COUNSEL.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A minor who is subject to 21 a custodial interrogation shall have the right to have 22 the legal counsel assigned to the minor’s case phys- 23 ically present during such interrogation. 24 ‘‘(2) VIOLATION.—In the case of custodial in- 25 terrogation of a minor, it shall be a violation of this 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2834.IH H2834 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2834 IH subsection for the minor to be represented by any 1 substitute counsel temporarily assigned to represent 2 the minor. 3 ‘‘(e) INADMISSIBLE.—In any criminal prosecution 4 brought by the United States, any statement given by a 5 minor during a custodial interrogation that does not com- 6 ply with this section, and any evidence derived from that 7 statement, shall be inadmissible. 8 ‘‘(f) MINOR DEFINED.—In this section, the term 9 ‘minor’ means an individual who has not attained 18 years 10 of age.’’. 11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 12 for chapter 223 of title 18, United States Code, is amend- 13 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 3501 the 14 following item: 15 ‘‘3501A. Custodial interrogation of a minor.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2834.IH H2834 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS