May 30, 2018

Rep. Mia Ackerman at (401) 658-0981

House OKs Ackerman legislation that would give Superior Court jurisdiction over child cruelty cases

STATE HOUSE — The House of Representatives today passed legislation introduced by Rep. Mia Ackerman (D-Dist. 45, Cumberland, Lincoln) that would give Superior Court jurisdiction over cases involving child cruelty.

The bill (2018-H 7652) would transfer jurisdiction of offenses involving cruelty to or neglect of a child from the Rhode Island Family Court to the Rhode Island Superior Court.

“Cases involving cruelty to a child are extremely serious,” said Representative Ackerman, who filed the legislation on behalf of Attorney General Peter Kilmartin. “Oftentimes these cases involve abandonment, malnourishment or other forms of heinous cruelty. Superior Court is much better equipped to deal with these types of crimes than Family Court.”

The measure, which is cosponsored by House Majority Leader K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick), Representatives Carol Hagan McEntee (D-Dist. 33, Narragansett, South Kingstown), Daniel P. McKiernan (D-Dist. 7, Providence) and Robert B. Jacquard (D-Dist. 17, Cranston), now moves to the Senate, which has passed similar legislation (2018-S 2691) introduced by Sen. Erin Lynch Prata (D-Dist. 31, Warwick, Cranston).

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