Legislature(2005 - 2006)BUTROVICH 205
04/26/2006 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SCR28 | |
| SB281 | |
| Overview: Obesity Prevention – American Heart Association | |
| HB258 | |
| HB393 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SCR 28 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 281 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | HB 258 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 393 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
CSHB 258(JUD)-SEXUAL ASSAULT BY PERSON WITH HIV/AIDS
CHAIR DYSON announced CSHB 258(JUD) would be taken up for
consideration.
REPRESENTATIVE BOB LYNN, sponsor of HB 258, said that CSHB
258(JUD) makes rape or sexual assault by anyone infected with
HIV/AIDS an aggravating factor in sentencing. He said that how
or why the perpetrator may have acquired HIV/AIDS is not the
issue, the sexual orientation of the perpetrator is not the
issue, and any perceived stigma that someone associates with
this life threatening disease is not the issue. The bill is
only about whether a convicted rapist or sexual predator
previously diagnosed with HIV/AIDS should be subject to an
aggravating factor at sentencing for committing a horrific and
life changing crime.
He said that this legislation has received tremendous support
from both law enforcement officials and victims of sexual
assault, and remarked that Anchorage Police Chief, Walt Monegan
described a sexual predator with HIV/AIDS as an assailant with
an insidious weapon that can be used to further strike out
against victims and victim's loved ones. He then quoted the
following from Susan Sullivan, Executive Director of Victims for
Justice:
Adding months of terror and possibly years of illness
and a shortened life to the horror of rape makes an
attack by an HIV positive rapist a horrendous assault.
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN noted that GERAD G. GODFREY, Chairman of the
Violent Crimes Compensation Board, urges passage of this bill.
He stated that 24 states throughout the country have laws that
specifically criminalize exposure or transmission of HIV/AIDS,
and that it is time that Alaska joins these states considering
that it has the highest rate of sexual assault in the nation.
CHAIR DYSON asked how an aggravating factor affects sentencing.
2:52:16 PM
SUSAN PARKES, Deputy Attorney General, Criminal Division,
Department of Law, who responded that an aggravator allows a
judge to go beyond the presumptive sentencing range that is set
for a given offence. She added that the finding of an
aggravator does not require a judge to enhance a sentence.
2:53:10 PM
CHAIR DYSON remarked that the committee has heard testimony from
police officers who have had bodily fluids thrown at them by
persons at least purported to have HIV. He asked Representative
Lynn whether he had considered that kind of assault while
drafting the legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN replied that he had not.
MIKE SICA, staff to Representative Lynn, noted that the Alaska
Correctional Officers Association and the Public Safety
Employees Association support this bill and see it as a
protection for them, although the primary protection is for
victims of sexual assault.
BRENDA STANFILL, from the Center for Non-Violence, testified in
support of CSHB 258(JUD) and made herself available for
questions.
CHAIR DYSON asked whether anyone had testified in opposition to
the bill.
MR. SICA replied that a representative of the Alaska Alliance
for AIDS Awareness testified against the bill out of concern for
the stigma that any bill that mentions HIV/AIDS might cause.
2:56:34 PM
SENATOR GREEN moved to report CSHB 258(JUD) out of committee
with individual recommendations and no fiscal notes. There were
no objections and it was so ordered.
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