Hearing Held on Victim Privacy Bill--Action Needed

The Assembly Committee on Urban and Local Affairs held a hearing on a victim privacy bill last week. AB 349 would make it more difficult for perpetrators to use county and municipal tax records to search for and locate victims fleeing abuse. The bill would also help keep shelter locations confidential.

Unfortunately, there were a number of individuals and organizations at the hearing who spoke in opposition to this victim safety measure. The group most vocal in its opposition was county and municipal land records officials. These officials do not want to be required to change their database systems in ways that would prevent easy access to the current addresses of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking victims.

Local officials have the ears of state legislators and might be able to use this influence to halt progress on privacy protections.

We need to make sure legislators also hear from victim advocates. Please call your state legislators and ask them to support AB 349, which would prevent perpetrators from easily using land records to locate and terrorize victims.

Talking Points:

• If victims' locations are freely accessible, perpetrators will use this information to harm victims and commit new crimes.
• AB 349 would help protect victims by keeping their addresses and shelter locations from perpetrators.
• We entrust the government with our personal information; the government has a responsibility to ensure that it does not carelessly disseminate that information in ways that put victims at greater risk.

Bill to Close 72-hour No-contact Loophole Introduced

Law would prevent perpetrators from contacting victims without their permission during the cooling off period.

Under Wisconsin law, domestic violence offenders may not contact the victim within 72 hours of arrest, unless the victim consents to contact in writing. Currently, Wisconsin law contains a loophole that allows offenders to violate the 72-hour no-contact condition with relative impunity. Rep. Zigmunt (Two Rivers) and Sen. Taylor (Milwaukee) have introduced a bill to close this loophole and treat violations of the conditional release the same as violations of bond conditions.

Currently, law enforcement has no legal authority to hold violators of the no-contact condition in custody. At most, law enforcement can re-arrest the defendant; however, because of the loophole, the defendant must be immediately released.

Victims, advocates and law enforcement officers experience intense frustration because of the current loophole. The 72-hour no-contact condition is an important victim safety measure, which is informed by an understanding that victims are at increased risk for more brutal and serious violence immediately after an initial incident. When defendants are released from jail on the condition that they not contact the victim, the legal consequence of violating that condition should provide for a return to jail.

Contact your state legislators and tell them to, “co-sponsor LRB-3070, being circulated by Rep. Zigmunt and Sen. Taylor.

9to5 Appeals Faulty Milwaukee Sick Pay Ordinance Decision

9to5, the National Association of Working Women, the organization that was the driving force behind the Milwaukee Sick Pay Ordinance, has filed its appeal of the judicial decision that overturned the ordinance.

The law would have provided paid leave for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Milwaukee. In the original court ruling, the judge struck down the entire ordinance because he believed the domestic violence and sexual assault victim protections were invalid.

WCADV will be assisting 9to5 in the appeal. Patti Seger recently wrote an op-ed that explains why the court's ruling was an affront to victims and Milwaukee voters.

You can read about the appeal here.