Assemblymen Troy Singleton will join with advocates tomorrow in a call for action to stop the delay of Lisa’s Law as Domestic Violence Awareness Month kicks off.
Singleton will be joined by Tara DeLorme of Lisa’s Light and Mary Pettrow of Providence House on Thursday, October 2, at 11 a.m. in room 109 of the Statehouse across from the Assembly Chambers.
Lisa’s Law was a groundbreaking measure Singleton sponsored last year that would have authorized the courts to order electronic monitoring of certain domestic violence offenders and required notification to victims when the offender is within a certain proximity.
The law was named in honor of Letizia Zindell of Toms River who was murdered in 2009 by her former fiancée a day after he was released from jail for violating a restraining order that she had filed against him.
Gov. Christie conditionally vetoed the measure in January, putting the monitoring program on hold while the Attorney General’s office conducted a review to determine if the appropriate technology is available to monitor the location of dangerous domestic violence offenders. The attorney general had 120 days to complete a report on the availability of the technology, making it due in mid-May.
As Domestic Violence Awareness Month kicks off, with the report nearly 5 months overdue, lawmakers and advocates are pressing for action and a greater commitment from the state before more lives are lost to domestic violence.