9th District legislators Senator Christopher J. Connors, Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf and Assemblywoman DiAnne C. Gove are urging for consideration of their legislation to combat domestic violence and enhance protections for victims.
In a letter to the chairs of the Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committees, the 9th District legislators formally requested their legislation, S-115/A-299, which would require courts to consider the results of a domestic violence assessment before dissolving certain domestic violence restraining orders when the defendant has two or more restraining orders against him, be placed on the Committees’ next agendas.
Under the delegation’s initiative, a domestic violence assessment would be performed by a licensed psychiatrist, psychologist, clinical social worker or professional counselor. Defendants would be responsible to cover the cost of the assessment, which would be kept confidential. Senator Connors, Assemblyman Rumpf and Assemblywoman Gove issued the following statement regarding their request for action by the Legislature’s Judiciary Committees:
“Domestic violence remains among the serious criminal acts that our society must begin to address more comprehensively in order to protect victims and their families. To generate public support, Assemblywoman Gove discussed our delegation’s domestic violence initiative at the Governor’s Conference for Women.
“Our legislative proposal is twofold. First, it would require persons with two or more restraining orders to undergo a domestic violence assessment which the court must consider prior to dissolving a restraining order. The assessment’s priority would be to determine an offender’s likelihood of re-offense and if the victim or their family are at risk to any further acts of violence. Defendants would be responsible for the costs of the assessments, which would be kept confidential.
“Additionally, our legislation would require that factors currently being considered by the court for dissolving final restraining orders to be codified into law. For all cases, 10 factors would be considered which include whether the victim voluntarily dissolved the order, whether the victim fears the defendant, the number of times the defendant has violated the restraining order and whether the defendant has been involved in other violent acts.
“In all, our legislation would set strict court standards for determining if a person represents a threat to commit further acts of domestic violence. We believe that, in the end, victims would be better protected through a more comprehensive understanding of a defendant’s potential for risk of re-offense determined by a qualified, licensed professional. With this critically important information, the court and law enforcement can take the appropriate measures to protect potential victims.”
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