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Serial domestic violence offenders pose an unacceptable threat to our communities. For years victims and their allies have complained that our state requires more severe punishments for serial car thieves and drug dealers than for serial domestic abusers.
"I’ve witnessed the plight of hundreds of domestic violence victims who no longer cooperate with law enforcement or the courts because their experience has taught them that their abusive partners will not be held accountable, even after multiple convictions," says Keith Galbraith, the director of Family Renewal Shelter, a domestic violence shelter in Tacoma.
David Martin, head of the King County Prosecutor’s Office Domestic Violence Unit, agrees. He points to offenders like Damon Overby, who accumulated eight domestic violence convictions for assaults on four women over 18 years. Yet after receiving his latest felony conviction for a brutal attempt to suffocate a girlfriend, Overby was sentenced to only 12 months of work release.
On the pages that follow, you will find more examples of abusers who have escaped the kinds of prison terms that would more appropriately match our collective disgust of domestic abuse. At the same time, these shockingly short sentences have robbed victims of a chance to move on and rebuild their lives.
In February 2007, I convened my domestic violence advisory committee. This task force of leading prosecutors, police officers and victim advocates is recommending new solutions to protect the victims of chronic abusers. The task force asserts that sentencing rules for chronic abusers have proved inadequate because they do not require judges to take into account the previous misdemeanor domestic violence convictions of the most dangerous offenders. This demands immediate action.
The legislation they have drafted offers relief to the victims of domestic violence, brings abusers to justice, and treats serial domestic violence with the seriousness it deserves.
Thank you to the dedicated public servants and advocates who have served on our task force over the past two years. Their counsel has led to the most important proposed update to our domestic violence protections since the Domestic Violence Prevention Act first became law some 25 years ago.
I look forward to working with you to guide these proposals successfully through the legislative process in 2009.
Sincerely,
Rob McKenna