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Minutes for SB101 - Committee on Judiciary
Short Title
Amending the protection from abuse act and protection from stalking act to establish the protection from stalking or sexual assault act.
Minutes Content for Thu, Feb 16, 2017
Jenna Moyer gave a brief, saying that the bill amends the Code of Civil Procedure to add sexual assault as a reason a person may seek a protective order, and went on to explain what sections are amended and the changes made.
Opponent:
Clay Mead expressed his opposition (Attachment 6) to SB 101 saying that he has two major issues; One is the punitive nature of a civil action. Secondly, he said, there is a concern of the law of multiplicity, in other words, you can't prosecute someone more than once for the same crime.
After a brief question and answer period, Chairman Wilborn moved on to the next order of business.
Proponents:
Senator Petty shared her support (Attachment 7) for SB 101 saying that this bill came from talks with the Metropolitan Organization Counter Sexual Assault. This bill allows an individual to issue a civil protection order for victims.
Kristen Czugala shared her support (Attachment 8) for the bill, giving an example of a situation of rape at the workplace. Ms. Czugala explained further that because the victim and perpetrator were not dating, living together or have a child in common, the victim could not obtain a Protection From Abuse order. Additionally, Ms. Czugala explained that in order for the victim to qualify to obtain a Protection from Stalking order, the victim would have to be threatened or abused again, under the current law. Furthermore, Ms. Czugala explained that the victim's employer is under no obligation to change the work schedules because there is no protection order, and the victim then has to continue to work with the perpetrator. Ms. Czugala concluded that this is why she supports this bill.
Julie Donelon shared her support (Attachment 9) for the bill saying that the current law fails to protect sexually assaulted victims. She went on to use an example that mirrored that of Ms. Czugala's testimony.
Katie Pratt offered support (Attachment 10) of SB 101 because of the assault she experienced and what she went through to get the Protection from Stalking order. She shared how shocked she was that the only reason she was able to get the order was because her perpetrator contacted her after the assault; it was not because of the actual assault.
Alycee Valdivia offered support (Attachment 11) of SB 101 because of a sexual assault that she experienced by a long-time friend. She was denied a Protection From Stalking order because he did not contact her after the assault.
Questions concerning a no-contact order's sufficiency in these cases was raised and addressed.
Stephanie Bowman shared her support (Attachment 12) for SB 101 by saying that there is a protection gap, and that this bill would close that gap.
Donald McClellan shared his support (Attachment 13) for the bill and wanted to talk about two points. First, is legal reasoning, speaking toward the future abuse and harassment and the fear victims have. He shared secondly, that there is a rise in sexual assault on women on college campuses, and over a quarter of women who attend college as an undergrad will be a victim of sexual assault. He concluded that this bill would help women to protect themselves.
Kathy Williams shared her support (Attachment 14) for SB 101 saying that this issue does not easily go away for survivors, and this is a necessary protection for survivors.
During a discussion period, clarification was obtained as it relates to the opponent of the bill.
