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Committee advances 'Janiqua's Law' to require child-maintenance restitution for DUI and negligent-driving victims
Summary
Lawmakers voted to forward a bill requiring defendants convicted of negligent homicide or DUI that kills or disables a parent or guardian to pay child-maintenance restitution; the committee approved forwarding the measure to Rules and Judiciary.
The Committee on Homeland Security, Justice and Public Safety voted June 5 to approve Bill No. 36-0027, "Janiqua's Law," and forward it to the Committee on Rules and Judiciary. The measure, sponsored by Senator Kenneth L. Gittens, would amend Title 5 of the Virgin Islands Code to allow courts to order a defendant convicted of negligent homicide by motor vehicle or driving under the influence (DUI) that results in the death or permanent disability of a parent or guardian to pay restitution in the form of child maintenance.
Senator Kenneth L. Gittens, who introduced the bill, said the measure seeks to provide long-term financial support for children who lose parental support because of reckless or impaired driving. “This bill aims to provide long term support for children who lose a parent or a guardian due to a reckless or impaired driving accident,” Gittens said.
The Virgin Islands Police Department, through Daphne O’Neil, director of the Office of Highway Safety, testified in support and supplied territorial crash data to the committee. The VIPD testimony said impaired driving contributed to recent fatal and serious crashes and cited territorial figures, including a reported total of “over 5,000 traffic crashes” in fiscal year 2023 and locally recorded DUI-related fatalities and injuries during the referenced period (VIPD testimony listed: Saint Croix 7 fatalities, Saint Thomas 2 fatalities, Saint John 0; and injuries noted as 154 on Saint Croix, "90 2" on Saint Thomas, and 2 on Saint John in testimony).
Attorney General Gordon Ray reviewed the bill and described how a court would consider factors in setting maintenance amounts, including the child’s needs, the surviving parent’s resources, the child’s standard of living and educational needs, and the defendant’s ability to pay. AG Ray said the payments would continue until the child turns 18 — or 19 if still in high school — and that courts could consider garnishment, contempt and other enforcement tools if defendants do not pay.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), represented remotely by Frank Harris, offered support and cited other jurisdictions that enacted similar statutes (Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky and others) as precedent. MADD and the AG said the bill is intended both to provide restitution and to deter impaired-driving behavior.
After a three-minute round of questioning and debate, the committee voted to approve the bill for favorable consideration and forward it to Rules and Judiciary. Roll-call results recorded seven yes votes and no recorded opposition at the committee vote.
If enacted, the law would require courts to order restitution in child-maintenance form when certain DUI or negligent-driving convictions lead to a victim who was a parent or guardian being killed or permanently disabled; the statute sets the length of payments and lists factors courts should weigh in determining amounts, but leaves precise enforcement mechanisms to judicial procedures and related statutes.
