HB 142 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Summary

This bill precludes the so-called LGBTQ+ "panic" defense that seeks to partially or completely excuse or justify a defendant from full accountability for the commission of a crime on the grounds that the actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth of the victim is sufficient to explain, excuse, or justify the defendant's conduct, or contributes to or causes the defendant's mental state, or that the defendant’s reaction thereto constitutes a mental illness, mental defect, or mental disorder sufficient to excuse or justify the defendant's conduct (including under circumstances in which the victim made a nonviolent romantic or sexual advance toward the defendant or in which the defendant and the victim dated or had a romantic or sexual relationship). Sections 1 and 3 of this bill move the definitions for gender identity and sexual orientation currently in the hate crimes statute to the general definitions section of the Criminal Code to maintain standard definitions of these terms throughout the Criminal Code. Section 2 of this bill provides that in any prosecution or sentencing for an offense: (i) a defendant is not justified in using force against another based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth; (ii) for the purposes of determining whether there is a reasonable explanation or excuse for the existence of extreme emotional disturbance or other asserted mitigating factor or circumstance, such explanation or excuse is not reasonable if it is based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth; and (iii) a defendant does not suffer from a mental illness, mental defect, mental disorder, serious mental disorder, psychiatric disorder, or other impairment affecting or impacting the defendant’s mental state relating to any questions of intent, knowledge, capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the defendant's conduct, disturbance of the defendant's thinking, feeling or behavior, culpability, willpower to choose whether to do or refrain from doing an act, or ability to distinguish right from wrong, based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth. This bill does not preclude a defendant from availing themself of any defense permitted by the Delaware Criminal Code or other applicable Delaware law on bases other than those specifically precluded by this bill. This House Substitute No. 2 differs from the original in that it corrects the omission of the phrase “or sentencing” in § 472(a), (b), and (c).

Bill Text

• Bill Text View text Current pdf

Action History

1. September 21, 2023

   Signed by Governor

2. June 28, 2023

   Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 ABSENT

3. June 21, 2023

   Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 4 Favorable

4. June 15, 2023

   Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

5. June 15, 2023

   Passed By House. Votes: 27 YES 10 NO 1 NOT VOTING 3 ABSENT

6. June 15, 2023

   Amendment HA 2 to HS 2 - Defeated By House. Votes: 14 YES 25 NO 2 ABSENT

7. June 07, 2023

   was introduced and adopted in lieu of HB 142

Sponsors

• John "Jack" Walsh · Primary
• Trey Paradee · Primary
• Franklin D. Cooke · Primary
• Darius J. Brown · Primary
• Laura V. Sturgeon · Primary
• David P. Sokola · Primary
• Michael F. Smith · Primary
• Kendra Johnson · Primary
• Cyndie Romer · Primary
• David L. Wilson · Primary
• Spiros Mantzavinos · Primary
• Sean M. Lynn · Primary
• Kerri Evelyn Harris · Primary
• Marie Pinkney · Primary
• S. Elizabeth Lockman · Primary
• Bryan Townsend · Primary
• William Bush · Primary
• Brian Pettyjohn · Primary
• Nicole Poore · Primary
• Russell Huxtable · Primary
• Eric Morrison · Primary
• Stell Parker Selby · Primary
• Valerie Longhurst · Primary
• Paul S. Baumbach · Primary
• Sarah McBride · Primary
• Sean Matthews · Primary
• Peter C. Schwartzkopf · Primary

Votes

Subjects