Protecting Miranda Rights for Kids Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8685 To protect minors from premature waiver of their constitutional rights during a custodial interrogation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 27, 2020 Mr. CA´RDENAS (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) 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 22:33 Nov 07, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8685.IH H8685 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8685 IH ‘‘§ 3501A. Custodial interrogation of a minor 1 ‘‘(a) WAIVER.—A minor who is subject to a custodial 2 interrogation may only waive the privilege against self-in- 3 crimination or the right to assistance of legal counsel if— 4 ‘‘(1) the minor consults with legal counsel in 5 person before such waiver; and 6 ‘‘(2) the minor has contact with a parent or 7 legal guardian in person, by telephone, or by video 8 conference to receive consultation before such waiv- 9 er. 10 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 11 if— 12 ‘‘(1) custodial interrogation of a minor is nec- 13 essary to gather information to protect life or prop- 14 erty from an imminent threat; and 15 ‘‘(2) the questions that were asked during the 16 custodial interrogation were reasonably necessary to 17 obtain such information. 18 ‘‘(c) ASSIGNED COUNSEL.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A minor who is subject to 20 a custodial interrogation shall have the right to have 21 the legal counsel assigned to the minor’s case phys- 22 ically present during such interrogation. 23 ‘‘(2) VIOLATION.—In the case of custodial in- 24 terrogation of a minor, it shall be a violation of this 25 subsection for the minor to be represented by any 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Nov 07, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8685.IH H8685 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8685 IH substitute counsel temporarily assigned to represent 1 the minor. 2 ‘‘(d) INADMISSIBLE.—In any criminal prosecution 3 brought by the United States or by the District of Colum- 4 bia, any statement given by a minor during a custodial 5 interrogation that does not comply with this section, and 6 any evidence derived from that statement, shall be inad- 7 missible. 8 ‘‘(e) 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 22:33 Nov 07, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8685.IH H8685 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS