2025 -- H 5904

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LC000049

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

____________

A N   A C T

RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--PROCEDURE GENERALLY --

EVIDENCE

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Kazarian, Potter, Batista, Kislak, Dawson, O'Brien,
Caldwell, McEntee, Stewart, and Corvese

     Date Introduced: February 28, 2025

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     (by request)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

1

     SECTION 1. Section 9-19-38 of the General Laws in Chapter 9-19 entitled "Evidence" is

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hereby amended to read as follows:

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     9-19-38. Proof of life or work life expectancy.

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     (a) In any proceeding commenced in any court, commission, or agency, when the life or

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work life expectancy of a person shall be at issue or when it is necessary to establish the expectancy

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of continued life or work life expectancy of any person from any period of the person’s life, whether

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he or she is living at the time or not, the most recent issue of “The United States Abridged Life

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Tables” (United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control

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and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics) or Tables of Work Life Expectancies as

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published in “Work Life Estimates: Effects of Race and Education” (United States department of

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labor, bureau of labor statistics) the table hereto appended shall be received in all courts and by all

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persons having power to determine litigation as evidence of such expectancy represented by the

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figures in the columns headed by the words “completed age” and “expectation,” respectively, shall

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be admissible in evidence as competent evidence of such matter. The admissibility of evidence

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provided for in this section shall not be deemed to render inadmissible evidence as to the health,

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constitution, habits, or occupation of the person or any other evidence otherwise admissible under

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the laws of this state. Determinations of life or work expectancy shall not be based on race, ethnicity

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or sex.

 

1

Completed Age Expectation

2

0 75.8

3

1 75.4

4

2 74.5

5

3 73.5

6

4 72.5

7

5 71.6

8

6 70.6

9

7 69.6

10

8 68.6

11

9 67.6

12

10 66.6

13

11 65.6

14

12 64.6

15

13 63.7

16

14 62.7

17

15 61.7

18

16 60.7

19

17 59.8

20

18 58.8

21

19 57.9

22

20 56.9

23

21 56.0

24

22 55.1

25

23 54.1

26

24 53.2

27

25 52.2

28

26 51.3

29

27 50.4

30

28 49.4

31

29 48.5

32

30 47.5

33

31 46.6

34

32 45.7

 

LC000049 - Page 2 of 5

1

33 44.7

2

34 43.8

3

35 42.9

4

36 42.0

5

37 41.0

6

38 40.1

7

39 39.2

8

40 38.3

9

41 37.4

10

42 36.5

11

43 35.6

12

44 34.7

13

45 33.8

14

46 32.9

15

47 32.0

16

48 31.1

17

49 30.2

18

50 29.3

19

51 28.5

20

52 27.6

21

53 26.8

22

54 25.9

23

55 25.1

24

56 24.3

25

57 23.5

26

58 22.7

27

59 21.9

28

60 21.1

29

61 20.4

30

62 19.7

31

63 18.9

32

64 18.2

33

65 17.5

34

66 16.8

 

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1

67 16.1

2

68 15.5

3

69 14.8

4

70 14.2

5

71 13.5

6

72 12.9

7

73 12.3

8

74 11.7

9

75 11.2

10

76 10.6

11

77 10.0

12

78 9.5

13

79 9.0

14

80 8.5

15

81 8.0

16

82 7.5

17

83 7.1

18

84 6.6

19

85 and over 6.6

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     (b) The life and work life expectancy tables may be evidenced by an official publication of

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the tables or by a copy of the tables as published in a compiler’s note under this section in the

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general laws of Rhode Island. The tables as published in the general laws of Rhode Island shall be

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sufficient proof of life and work life expectancy without further foundation or authentication;

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provided, however, that written notice of the intention to offer the life or work life expectancy

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tables as evidence, together with a copy of the tables, has been given to the opposing party or

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parties, or to his or her or their attorneys, by mailing it by certified mail, return receipt requested,

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not less than ten (10) days before the introduction of the tables into evidence, and that an affidavit

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of the notice and the return receipt are filed with the clerk of the court immediately after the receipt

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has been returned.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--PROCEDURE GENERALLY --

EVIDENCE

***

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     This act would provide that evidence of life or work expectancy shall be based on statistical

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data using blended statistics and shall not be based on race, ethnicity or sex.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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