Proposed law would allow permanent, lifetime protective orders in…

Many advocates and victims of sexual assault, harassment and abuse are encouraged by proposed legislation in Wyoming that will allow judges to make protective orders permanent.

The proposed bill has met little opposition so far, having unanimously passed the first hurdle at last week’s meeting of the Wyoming Joint Judiciary Committee, which would be considered in the next legislative session.

The bill would give judges the discretion to permanently extend protective orders for victims of sexual assault, stalking and domestic violence beyond the statutory term of one to three years.

If passed, as is currently the case, new protective orders can be terminated by the victim at any time.

The proposed law would also end tolling, the process of stopping the clock on protection orders during detention. Tolls, while originally intended as a benefit to victims, have proven to be onerous, as victim advocates and lawmakers have recognized.

Game changer

For a northeastern Wyoming woman who wished to remain anonymous to protect her grandchild, the proposed legislation would be a breakthrough.

She and her husband were forced to take out a stalking order against their drug-addicted daughter two years ago after taking custody of her child.

They have tried several times to get her help, but so far attempts at rehabilitation have not worked.

In the meantime, her drug use has escalated to the point where she has developed drug-induced schizophrenia. Her threats against them become more menacing and bizarre as she threatens to take revenge on them for ‘stealing’ her child.

At one point, the incessant calls became so frequent that the grandparents were forced to turn off their phones at night so they could sleep.

The couple lived with the threats for seven years, until a friend finally suggested the mother apply for a protective order, which she had not realized was an option.

After showing her victim’s advocate the years of threatening messages and texts, the couple received a one-year stalking order.

But even getting that was a trick, the woman told Cowboy State Daily, because of the burden of proof needed to prove the harassment.

Within 24 hours of receiving the stalking order, their daughter violated it by texting her father. She was arrested and spent almost a year in prison.

Burden for victims

This introduced a second layer of complications in applying tolls during their daughter’s incarceration. Tolling allows victims to extend protective orders for the time respondents are in jail.

The problem was that the mother did not know how long her daughter’s sentence was and was told she had to request the information and reapply to the court to extend the order.

Because her daughter had been in Campbell County, the woman had to ask the Campbell County commissioners for permission to go to the jail for a small fee to retrieve the records.

“It was a huge hassle,” she says. “As it is now, the system turns victims back into victims.”

Her situation is far less extreme than others, she said, noting that her heart goes out to women who find themselves in truly abusive relationships and are forced to constantly face their abusers to extend their protections.

Problems with toll collection

This is the problem with tolls and short-term protective orders, says Sandy Stevens, director of the North East Wyoming Advocacy Resource Center’s DVSA program.

Stevens has been working with victims of domestic violence for 25 years and said the lifetime protective orders have several important benefits.

In addition to providing a sense of security and reducing the need to often traumatize victims by having to go back to court to meet their abusers to get renewed orders, it also reduces the power of abusers.

“It establishes a legal boundary that helps prevent abusers from contacting or even approaching victims,” Stevens said, noting that many abusers enjoy having that power over their victims.

“The abuser might actually enjoy going back to court to torment them even more or use it as an excuse to stay in touch,” she said. “It’s a tactic to use against their partners.”

Leaving an abuser is a process and not an event, Stevens added. She compared it to someone quitting their job on the spot with no plans in place, a lack of resources and the fear of the unknown, let alone expensive legal fees.

Making some protective orders permanent would help alleviate some of the stress victims face in escaping their abusers, Stevens said.

“Ensuring that all survivors have access to lifetime protection orders could help survivors and even law enforcement prevent future abuse,” she said.

It would also provide clear legal grounds for law enforcement agencies and the courts, she noted, easing the burden on both victims and the courts to continually renew the orders.

Cara Chambers, director of the Victim Services Division in the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, agrees with Stevens.

She called the proposed law “a game-changer” by expanding permanent protections for victims.

Under the proposed law, a judge would consider, among other things, the perpetrator’s history, the severity of the violence and the risk of harm to the victim, when deciding whether to make orders permanent.

Tolls would apply to current protective orders once the new law takes effect, but would not be applied to future orders and would be resolvable at the victim’s request.

Worth the hassle

While The northeastern Wyoming woman was able to get a toll to extend the protective order for the months her daughter was in jail; the stalking order expired in September.

She has not been able to renew it because the court says she has not met the burden of proof justifying the order because she cannot prove that the harassing and threatening calls are coming from her daughter because she constantly uses temporary cell phones with different numbers.

Now she believes her daughter lives in southern Wyoming and Colorado and the calls are not as frequent, though fears of her returning to the area remain.

For example, she is in favor of permanent protective orders and would certainly seek one if the law passes, she said, to give them peace of mind.

The woman worries that her grandchild will be kidnapped or confronted by the mother or someone dangerous she is with while on drugs, and that her daughter may hurt other family members.

“We’re always looking over our shoulders,” she says. “We feel like prisoners in our own lives.”

She also values ​​the victim’s right to end the order and hopes she will one day be able to do so with her daughter.

“The whole situation has been unbearable,” she said, calling it an impossible choice and lamenting the family’s efforts to get help for their daughter. “It’s really tough.”

Jen Kocher can be reached at [email protected].