WESTFIELD – Comprehensive legislation creating new criminal offenses and protecting victims of domestic violence passed both houses of the Massachusetts State House Thursday evening.
The sprawling bill has been sent to the desk of Governor Deval L. Patrick, and elevates penalties for domestic violence, boosts prevention efforts, seeks to empower victims and establishes new employment rights.
The key component of this legislation is the establishment of a first offense domestic assault and battery charge, an update of the current law which penalizes continual offenders but fails to include a first offense.
Politicians of both parties in both houses of Beacon Hill lauded the bill, and some of the strongest voices of support have come from the city of Westfield’s legislative delegation and police.
“This bill has been in the works for the better part of 10 to 15 years but the straw that broke the camel’s back was the Remy case,” said Rep. John Velis (D-Westfield), referencing Jared Remy, the son of Boston Red Sox Broadcaster Jerry Remy, who pleaded guilty in May to the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Jennifer Martel.
“If a person is arrested for assault and battery, they go to jail, post bond and are immediately released. We’ve created a cooling off period where, if you’re arrested, you’re held for six hours to let emotions go low,” Velis explained. “A lot of times in these cases, the aggressor is severely intoxicated, and that period will allow them to sober up.”
Velis referred to Rep. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham), first division chair for the House of Representatives, as the “driving force” in getting the bill through, and mentioned a key provision in the legislation which protects the identity of the victim and the aggressor until they have been arraigned in court.
“One of the main deterring factors in them (victims) coming forward is the notion that their name is going to be in the public sphere,” he said. “Until the person whose been arrested has been arraigned, no names will go public.”
“It was unanimous in both branches, so the legislature felt it was time to get behind it strongly,” State Sen. Don Humason, Jr. (R-Westfield) said. “Domestic violence is not like any other crime in that, if you’re going to batter somebody – a spouse, a girlfriend, a child – there has to be something wrong with you in the first place. It’s important to have strong laws on the books, consequences for actions, and to be able to address problems with immediacy, but I wonder if people who are inclined to domestic violence are going to do it anyway.”
Humason spoke of the enhanced penalty for first time offenders and that the penalties “staircase” from there.
“It’s like speeding: the first time you’re caught speeding isn’t the first time you’ve sped. In most cases, the first time the crime is ever reported isn’t the first time it ever occurred,” Humason said. “The purpose of the legislation is to do intensive punishment/therapy, to stop the behavior and help people make sure it doesn’t happen again, or else the penalties get ratcheted up.”
Local victim advocates also spoke highly of the bill. Donna Suckau, domestic violence advocate at the Westfield Police Department, called the six-hour holding period “the best thing they’ve done” in her career as an advocate.
“They’re holding these guys seriously accountable now, giving the victim six hours to do what they have to do, whether it be getting an emergency restraining order if its over the weekend, or even going somewhere safe if they don’t want to get a restraining order,” Suckau said. “You’re still guaranteeing six hours of safety, and they (victims) need that.”
“In Westfield, I’d say 50 to 60 percent, maybe 70 percent of people arrested for domestic violence are repeat offenders and because they’re repeat offenders, nobody is being held accountable for their behaviors,” she said, adding that the new laws will keep victims from losing faith in a system that is supposed to be protecting them.
Suckau added that alcohol and drug abuse factor heavily in many domestic violence cases handled by Westfield Police, and believes stronger substance abuse laws need to be implemented to compliment the strides being made by legislators.
“If we don’t pass stricter laws, it’s all a waste of time,” she said. “I’ve seen too much of this. I think it’s a serious issue, and random testing should be part of their (offenders) probation, they should go to drug and alcohol classes, as well as domestic violence classes.”
The prevalence of drug abuse in the region needs to continue being addressed by Hampden County’s next district attorney, according to Suckau.
“I honestly believe the District Attorney’s Office should make domestic violence – whether it’s your first offense or your 12th offense – a mandatory year jail sentence,” she said. “With everything that I’ve seen – repeat offenders, with different victims – they don’t get it, they don’t care. Give the victim an opportunity to feel that the system hasn’t failed her, and maybe we won’t have as many victims.”
Despite the Commonwealth’s continued tax increases over the past few years, Suckau said that many of the programs created to help victims of domestic violence are being gutted.
“We’re losing our programs. Make our programs solid, put your money where your mouth is,” she said. “They were questioning whether our New Beginnings Program – our battered womens program in Westfield – is going to be able to stay open. Our part of the state doesn’t get as much revenue as other parts of the state.”
“What’re we going to do? Tell a woman she has to go into a battered womens shelter, let her give up her apartment, and tell her she has to go to Connecticut or Boston because we have nothing locally for you?” Suckau said. “The money is not here, we don’t have the resources here in our town.”
