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Article published Sep 16, 2003
Changes in domestic violence law should focus on keeping attackers in jail

A state lawmaker from Greenville wants to improve the way the courts deal with domestic violence in the wake of the murder of a young woman by her former boyfriend.State Rep. Gloria Haskins would name the legislation "Maranda's Law" after Maranda Williams, 24, who was shot to death in the Greenville supermarket where she worked.Her former boyfriend is now being held on a murder charge. But he had been arrested previously for severely beating Williams. He was free on bond when he killed her.Haskins sees the obvious. The judicial system had warning that this young man could kill Williams, yet it turned him loose.She is working with victims' advocates to develop a law that would expedite the prosecution of abusers, but her measure would not deny bond for abusers and keep them in jail once they are arrested.There are obstacles to that approach. Am-ericans have a constitutional right to bond. And the jails don't have enough space to indiscriminately hold people without bond.But more can and should be done with people like Williams' former boyfriend. The General Assembly can give judges more flexibility and authority to hold abusers in jail without bond if they believe they pose a continuing threat to their victims.The state might even impose an assessment process. Anyone arrested on a domestic violence charge could be held in jail until a victims' advocate or other trained expert evaluates the continuing threat posed by this person to others and even himself. If a genuine risk is found, that person could be held without bond.The state also needs to put more force behind court orders forbidding contact between an abuser and his victim.The penalty for violating such an order should be increased. If an abuser violates a court order through contacting his victim, that person should immediately be put in jail for a lengthy period. If he is awaiting trial on another charge, his bond should be revoked. And violating such an order should be considered a legal presumption of intent to harm or kill a victim.These measures would make it easier for victims to protect themselves and for authorities to keep batterers off the streets and away from their victims. When the legislature considers "Maranda's Law," it should be a full package of legislative tuning of the domestic violence laws and process.