Today nearly 80 people joined Unchained to Celebrate a Legislative Victory.
Honoree: LORETTA WEINBERG • New Jersey Senate Majority Leader
Sponsor of the bill Unchained wrote to help domestic violence survivors, which has been signed into law
Featured speaker: AMY RICHARDS • Feminist, activist, author
Founder of Third Wave Foundation and Soapbox Author of Manifesta, Grassroots and Opting In
The celebration included hors d’oeuvres, wine, live music and a silent auction.
About the Law
Domestic violence survivors in New Jersey who ask a judge for a final restraining order typically need to prove they have been subjected to a pattern of abuse that is likely to recur. The best way for them to prove that pattern is to show copies of the prior temporary restraining orders they have obtained against their abusers and the accompanying police reports.
However, crime victims previously were required to pay for their own crime records. That was an unfair and unnecessary burden to put on a crime victim.
Also, a victim’s request for crime records itself previously became a public record that nearly anyone, including the abuser, could access. That obviously could have put a victim in additional danger.
Unchained therefore wrote the new law, which says that:
– A crime victim no longer needs to pay for her/his own crime records, and
– A crime victim’s request for her/his own records no longer is public.