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Neal Miller, Esq., Principal Associate
Copyright 1997 Institute for Law and Justice. This document may be be distributed
freely as long as the document and its parts are not changed and as long as the copyright,
grant reference to the National Institute of Justice, and the disclaimer of Department of
Justice responsibility for content are included as shown here and below.
Grant No. 96-WT-NX-0007 from the National Institute of Justice to the
Institute for Law and Justice
This project was supported by Grant No. 96-WT-NX-0007 awarded by the National
Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of
view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the
official position of policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
1997 Domestic Violence Legislation
In the 1997 legislative year, only seven states and the District
of Columbia had not enacted any domestic violence related laws. Four other state
legislatures were still in session but had not enacted such laws as of September 2, 1997.
The Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, and Texas legislators were the most active in passing new
laws. The Texas legislators were the most active, passing seven distinct acts relating to
domestic violence including reenactments of the code provisions relating to civil
protective orders and stalking.
Summary of Changes
Among the 39 states whose legislatures enacted domestic violence
laws, the types of laws passed ranged from creation of new criminal offenses to technical
amendments of existing statutes to clarify language ambiguities. Among the most important
areas of change were new criminal law provisions, criminal procedure amendments, stalking
law changes, provisions for full faith and credit to out-of-state protective orders, other
amendments to civil protection order provisions, police training requirements, and
collateral effects of a conviction for domestic violence.
Criminal Law Enactments
Ten states amended their penal codes in 1997. These new laws
ranged from creation of new crimes (6 states) to technical amendments that expand the
scope of existing law, e.g., increased the types of persons covered by stalking law, (7
states). Other criminal law changes included increased penalties for violating a domestic
violence related criminal provision (6 states). The most significant of these laws
included provisions making harassment of a minor a separate felony offense (Florida),
establishing the crime of interference with a 911 call as a gross misdemeanor (Minnesota),
making interfering with report of domestic violence a crime (Alaska), and establishing
that violation of stalking protective order is a crime (South Dakota).
Criminal Procedure Changes
Changes in state criminal procedure laws include increased arrest
authority (6 states), authority for criminal protective order as part of pretrial release
(2 states), and elimination of civil compromise or other outcomes as alternative to
prosecution (3 states). Among the more significant changes in state criminal procedure
were establishment of public policy against dual arrests (Florida), victim of domestic
violence must be informed of right to copy of incident report (Maryland), pilot project to
use breath analyzers to monitor domestic violence offenders (Minnesota), and mandatory
offender fingerprinting if released by citation (Nevada).
Stalking Law Provisions
Thirteen states enacted legislation to strengthen their laws
against stalking. Of these, five states amended their criminal laws, three their civil
protection order laws, and four states amended both types of laws. Among the most
significant of these laws was Texas' reenactment of its stalking law to meet
constitutional objections that struck down the former law.
Full Faith and Credit
Nine states enacted legislation implementing the federal Violence
Against Women Act (VAWA) requirement for full faith and credit between states for orders
of protection. In 1997, two types of such laws were noted: those requiring law enforcement
authorities to enforce orders meeting due process requirements and those first requiring
registration of out-of-state orders with a local court. A variant on the latter approach
is for registration of a protective order with the state order registry. Among the more
interesting laws implementing full faith and credit are those calling for a $5,000 bail
for contempt of a foreign state court order (Oklahoma) and those requiring that all
protective orders reference the applicable federal criminal code provision for interstate
domestic violence (Minnesota).
Civil Protection Orders
Fifteen states amended their civil protection laws in 1997. These
included two states central registry of orders laws, three states where filing fees have
been limited, and two states authorizing a firearm possession bar as part of any civil
protection order. Among the more interesting new civil protection laws is a Rhode Island
law making forwarding of a protection order to the police discretionary with the victim;
previously, forwarding of the order was mandatory. In contrast, a new Virginia law
authorizes police to electronically seek an emergency protective order and places a
priority for emergency order registration within the state system. An Illinois law
requires that a judge be available 24 hours a day to hear applications for emergency
protective orders.
Police and Prosecutor Training
Two states enacted legislation requiring police training in
domestic violence. Another state now requires police to develop policies and procedures
for handling domestic violence cases. Still another state requires entry and in-service
training for its prosecutors, without any specification of content, however.
Collateral Effects of Domestic Violence Conviction
Laws providing for collateral effects of a conviction for
domestic violence are of two main types. First are laws implementing the federal
requirement barring convictees of gun licenses (2 states). Second are laws prohibiting a
person from serving as a law enforcement officer where that person was convicted of
domestic violence (2 states). A significant variation on these laws is Tennessee's
requirement that offenders offering pleas of guilty to a domestic violence offense must be
informed of the federal law requirement barring their possession of a firearm.
Miscellaneous Laws
Other unique legislation in 1997 relating to domestic violence
included:
- California law requires projects funded through VAWA to report to
state.
- Iowa established a tax check-off for funds to be made available to support emergency
shelters and like purposes.
- Maryland law now provides that discovery of a spouse committing adultery is not legal
provocation in mitigation of a murder charge.
- Maryland law also provides that an arrest expungement order cannot be granted on basis
of failure of conviction where spouse refusal to testify at trial led to acquittal.
- Montana law states that evidence of victim's sexual conduct is not relevant to hearing
on order of protection.
- Nevada courts are now authorized to hear civil damage actions from victims of domestic
violence.
- Ohio law provides that a civil protection order must state that its provisions cannot be
waived by invitation from the person protected by the order.
Analysis
Domestic violence legislation remained a major policy topic in
1997 for state legislators. The enactment of the Violence Against Women Act was
responsible, in part, for much legislative activity, especially with laws implementing the
full faith and credit clause of the Constitution.