04/07/2006 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

SB 54 - PROTECTIVE ORDERS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:19:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR McGUIRE  announced that  the first  order of business  would                                                              
be CS  FOR SENATE BILL  NO. 54(FIN),  "An Act amending  protective                                                              
order statutes  for crimes  involving stalking  to include  crimes                                                              
involving sexual  assault and sexual  abuse, to provide  for other                                                              
relief  ordered by  a court,  to add  the protective  orders to  a                                                              
centralized  registry, to  prevent denial  solely for  a lapse  of                                                              
time, and to require  notification of the court of  known civil or                                                              
criminal   actions  involving   the   petitioner  or   respondent;                                                              
relating  to notifications  to victims  of sexual  assault and  to                                                              
mandatory  arrest for  crimes  involving violation  of  protective                                                              
orders and violation  of conditions of release;  and amending Rule                                                              
65, Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure."                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GARA  noted that  he  doesn't have  any  questions                                                              
regarding SB 54.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:21:31 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR FRED  DYSON, Alaska State  Legislature, sponsor of  SB 54,                                                              
relayed  that  some judges  are  not  allowing rape  and  [sexual]                                                              
assault victims to  obtain a restraining order  because Alaska law                                                              
is not  specific enough.  Therefore,  SB 54 primarily  adds sexual                                                              
assault  to the  categories  of  stalking and  domestic  violence,                                                              
[which have  access to protective  orders].  The  legislation also                                                              
requires  the alleged  victim to  inform  the judge  if there  are                                                              
other  pending actions  between  the victim  and the  perpetrator.                                                              
Senator  Dyson  acknowledged  that some  restraining  orders  have                                                              
been  requested   based  on  spite  or  maneuver   during  divorce                                                              
hearings.   However,  he  opined  that the  aforementioned  almost                                                              
never occurs in sexual assault cases.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
1:23:48 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHRISTINE  McLEOD  PATE,  Mentoring Attorney,  Alaska  Network  on                                                              
Domestic Violence  & Sexual Assault (ANDVSA), began  by noting her                                                              
support  of SB  54.    She informed  the  committee  that she  has                                                              
worked in  the field of domestic  violence and sexual  assault for                                                              
over 13  years.  She  then reminded the  committee that  the state                                                              
ranks  number one  for  sexual assault  and  the state's  forcible                                                              
rape rate  is 2.5 times the  national average.   This legislation,                                                              
she  explained,  would  create a  much-needed  remedy  for  sexual                                                              
assault  victims who  are not  intimate partners  with the  person                                                              
who  sexually  assaulted  them   by  allowing  them  to  obtain  a                                                              
protection order.   She noted that Standing Together  Against Rape                                                              
(STAR)  has repeatedly  brought forward  this request.   Ms.  Pate                                                              
concluded by urging the committee pass SB 54 out of committee.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR McGUIRE  shared her view that  SB 54 is further  clean up of                                                              
statute with regard to protective orders.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GARA  offered his understanding that  if someone is                                                              
arrested  or  sentenced  for  sexual   assault,  it's  a  standard                                                              
condition of  bail or sentencing that  there be no contact  by the                                                              
alleged perpetrator  with the victim.  Therefore,  he assumed that                                                              
there must  be some circumstance in  which there is no  arrest and                                                              
the bail and sentencing conditions don't apply.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MS.  PATE  said that  is  correct,  adding  that there  is  under-                                                              
prosecution in this  area and thus some of the  cases don't result                                                              
in criminal  prosecutions.  Ms.  Pate then highlighted that  SB 54                                                              
provides  more  specific  remedies   than  a  criminal  no-contact                                                              
order,  and,  in  that sense,  is  probably  more  enforceable  if                                                              
there's a violation.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR McGUIRE,  upon determining  no one  else wished  to testify,                                                              
closed public testimony on SB 54.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:27:47 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   KOTT  moved  to   report  CSSB  54(FIN)   out  of                                                              
committee  with individual  recommendations  and the  accompanying                                                              
fiscal  notes.    There  being  no  objection,  CSSB  54(FIN)  was                                                              
reported from the House Judiciary Standing Committee.