Amanda's Bill Worse Than No Bill at All?

My apologies for not keeping a closer eye on "Amanda's bill," but cynical as I am I underestimated the ability of the General Assembly to fuck up anything aimed at helping people.

Under the vigilant eye of a grieving mother, the state Senate approved a bill Wednesday to help protect domestic violence victims.

Moments afterward, the mother of a Lexington woman whose murder shocked the state last year called the vote “a clear validation of the compelling need to improve protections for victims of domestic violence.”

Diana Ross, mother of Amanda Ross, told reporters in a soft voice outside the Senate chamber that House Speaker Greg Stumbo and other supporters of the bill “wanted to use the tragedy that ended Amanda’s life to make a difference for others.

“So today, we stand by this goal,” Ross said. “We remain vigilant while allowing the legislative process to finish their important work.”

It’s not clear if the House will accept myriad changes to the bill made by the Senate, which some victim advocates called “a travesty.” Stumbo said he will be meeting with interested legislators and advocacy groups to “see what they have to say” about House Bill 1.

Jake of Page One has been following the bill closely and finds it worse than nothing.

House Bill 1 as it now stands - beyond excluding dating relationships - actually provides less protection to fewer people than without the legislation.

Lethality assessment is put in the hands of the respondent and that means an abuser would essentially get a list of all the things of which you are most afraid.

It requires the County Attorney to assess each protective order request and creates a system of both criminal and civil charges moving along at the same time. But some victims don’t want to press criminal charges - they just want their abuser to stay far away.

Advocates for abuse victims agree:

Many of those who work with victims and those accused of domestic violence have concerns about the Senate’s version of the bill.

“It’s a travesty,” said Mike Finucane, the director of the Family Violence Project in Lexington, which offers treatment for those accused of domestic violence. “It creates more burdens for women who want to get a protective order.”

Finucane said the Senate version of the bill would require judges to read the penalties for perjury during domestic violence order hearings.

“There is an assumption that these women are all liars,” Finucane said. “There is no other civil or criminal procedure that requires that the penalties for perjury are read.”

Sherry Currens, the executive director of the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association, said the group appreciates how hard the Senate worked on the measure, but “some more tweaking needs to be done.”

Currens said she believes a proposal that would allow dating partners to seek protection in the domestic violence courts should be included in any final version of the bill. “We just hope that it can be fixed,” she said.

Though all 38 senators voted for the bill, some said the bill should do more.

The measure “doesn’t go as far as I or the Ross family had hoped it would go but it’s a good start,” said Senate Minority Leader Ed Worley, D-Richmond. “In time, we will get this right.”

Really, Ed? How many dead people in a "In time"?

Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, said she regretted that the bill did not cover dating partners, and Sen. Robin Webb, a Democrat from Grayson who said she was a survivor of domestic violence, said the measure was “not perfect but a good start.”

Fatuous Ass of the Week award goes to Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, who

said he did not know if the bill would have prevented “the tragedy in Lexington,” but added that everyone needs to be on guard to protect victims.

After months of harassment and threats, dozens of people in Amanda Ross' family and workplace were "on guard" to protect her, but they couldn't stop her murderer. In the absence of laws to protect dating partners, she was doomed.

And so are hundreds, if not thousands, of domestic abuse victims in Kentucky if the General Assembly does not radically strengthen this bill.

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