Protecting Miranda Rights for Kids Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4976 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4976

To protect minors from premature waiver of their constitutional rights 
       during a custodial interrogation, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2023

 Mr. Cardenas (for himself, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Trone, Ms. Norton, 
 Ms. Ross, Mr. Espaillat, and Mr. Ivey) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To protect minors from premature waiver of their constitutional rights 
       during a custodial interrogation, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Miranda Rights for Kids 
Act''.

SEC. 2. WAIVER OF MIRANDA RIGHTS BY A MINOR.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 223 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 3051 the following:
``Sec. 3501A. Custodial interrogation of a minor
    ``(a) Notification.--Any law enforcement officer who has arrested a 
minor for a violation of law shall notify the minor's parent, guardian, 
or legal custodian that the minor has been arrested and shall provide 
the location of where the minor is being detained.
    ``(b) Waiver.--A minor who is subject to a custodial interrogation 
may only waive the privilege against self-incrimination or the right to 
assistance of legal counsel if the minor consults with legal counsel in 
person before such waiver.
    ``(c) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply if--
            ``(1) custodial interrogation of a minor is necessary to 
        gather information to protect life from an imminent threat; and
            ``(2) the questions that were asked during the custodial 
        interrogation were reasonably necessary to obtain such 
        information.
    ``(d) Assigned Counsel.--
            ``(1) In general.--A minor who is subject to a custodial 
        interrogation shall have the right to have the legal counsel 
        assigned to the minor's case physically present during such 
        interrogation.
            ``(2) Violation.--In the case of custodial interrogation of 
        a minor, it shall be a violation of this subsection for the 
        minor to be represented by any substitute counsel temporarily 
        assigned to represent the minor.
    ``(e) Inadmissible.--In any criminal prosecution brought by the 
United States, any statement given by a minor during a custodial 
interrogation that does not comply with this section, and any evidence 
derived from that statement, shall be inadmissible.
    ``(f) Minor Defined.--In this section, the term `minor' means an 
individual who has not attained 18 years of age.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 223 of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 3501 the following item:

``3501A. Custodial interrogation of a minor.''.
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