Bills would crack down on domestic abuse, gangs

By Erik Arvidson
Eagle Boston Bureau

BOSTON -- The Romney administration and law enforcement officials want to give courts the authority to use Global Positioning System technology to track perpetrators of domestic violence.

Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey yesterday said legislation proposed by the administration would create "exclusion zones" around a victim of domestic violence that the offender would be prohibited from entering.

In addition, Healey announced two other bills the administration has filed, both aimed at curbing gang violence by protecting witnesses from intimidation.

Healey said the GPS bill, if approved, would create the first system in the nation using GPS to monitor domestic-violence offenders.

"To break free from horrific relationships, victims of domestic violence and their families should not be forced to abandon their lives," she said.

A person who violates the terms of his or her restraining order could be required by a judge to wear a GPS tracking bracelet. If the offender enters the court-determined exclusion zone -- such as the victim's workplace or home, or a child's school -- the GPS would trigger telephone calls to the victim and local authorities.

Offenders who are employed would be required to pay the estimated $10 per day cost to wear the device; the state would pick up the tab for the unemployed.

Those who violate a restraining order would face a criminal punishment of up to $5,000 in fines or up to 2 1/2 years in jail.

Last year, the Legislature passed a bill that requires 200 of the state's most serious sex offenders to wear GPS bracelets, and the state is spending $1 million to implement the program.

Other states, such as Maryland, are considering not only using the technology to track sex offenders, but also people subject to domestic-violence restraining orders.

Nancy Scannell, director of governmental affairs at Jane Doe Inc., said, 267 people have died since 1993 as a result of domestic violence, and that many of the deaths could have been avoided if there were a better system to track the attackers.

"Currently, the burden for the victim's safety falls on the victim themselves," Scannell said. "Some, in extreme cases, are forced to [move to a different town] and completely cut themselves off from their families. This while their abusers are allowed to move about freely without limits."

State Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios, D-Cambridge, who sponsored similar legislation, said that while the state funds homeless shelters and battered women's shelters, it's "an admission of the failure of the criminal justice system" that a woman must seek such protection.

"With this GPS technology, it's shifting the burden to him and his liberty," Barrios said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts has questioned the use of GPS technology to track sex offenders, arguing that keeping people under constant surveillance makes it difficult for them to function normally.

However, Ann Lambert, legislative counsel for the ACLU, said she had not yet read the Romney administration's bill and would not comment on its merits.

"Domestic violence covers a fair number of categories of criminal behavior," Lambert said. "It's adjudicated in a different way from a criminal prosecution. And in a sex offender's case, they're also adjudicated in another way by the sex offender registration."

The two other bills filed by the administration would establish criminal penalties for those who attempt to interfere or intimidate a witness.

Gang members who try to interfere with criminal proceedings by circulating grand jury testimony would face a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine of up to $5,000.

In addition, the legislation sets up witness-protection services for those facing harm at the hands of a gang.