Senate President Codey will post S1106 for vote !

The speakers at the breakfast I attended on Friday were Senate President Codey and Assembly Speaker Roberts. I thanked Speaker Roberts for posting A1563 and prior bill A4354 for a vote in the Assembly - the legislation passed the Assembly unanimously. A few days before I attended this breakfast, I spoke with the Chief of Staff for Senator Jennifer Beck, the Senator from my district who is one of the prime sponsors of the bill. I was told that Senate President Codey informed Senator Beck just the prior week that he would post S1106, the antistalking legislation for a vote. At this breakfast, I thanked Senate President Codey for agreeing to post this critical piece of legislation that will help me and the other victims of stalking who reside in NJ. He told me he was well aware of the need for this legislation, he would absolutely post it and he asked me to have Senator Beck send him a quick reminder to post the bill for a vote. The launch sequence has begun.........countdown to the first Senate voting session on Oct 23rd! Hooray!!!

Psychological impact of stalking

The majority of stalking victims do not seek mental health services, despite significant and serious mental health impact.
*- 80% of victims reported increased anxiety
*- 30% of victims developed PTSD
*- 25% of victims considered or attempted suicide
Yet, only 30% of female & 20% of male victims seek psychological counseling.

Sources: National Violence Against Women Survey, Tjaden & Thoennes (1998), Management of Victims of Stalking, Pathe, Mullen, & Purcell (2001) Reasons for not seeking counseling often mirror those for not reporting stalking: shame, embarassment, minimization, etc. Additionally, given the reality that 46 million people in this country do not have health insurance, psychological treatment is simply out of reach for many victims. This should not be a barrier to holding offenders accountable. If it is, offenders may end up targeting victims whom they learn do not have health insurance or cannot afford mental health counseling.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Reprinted to the left is a table listing COMMON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STALKING ACTS from the book "The Psychology of Stalking; Clinical and Forensic Perspectives" Edited by J. Reid Meloy

Page 148 of the book continues

IDENTIFYING DANGEROUS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STALKERS

"Gottman et al. (1996) suggested that the most dangerous batterer may not be the one whose rage is out of control, but rather the one whose rage is "quiet', "cold" and totally under his/her control; what Meloy (1988) referred to as "predatory" rather than "affective" violence. This batterer has a mean streak that metes out cruel and vicious acts against his/her ex-partner. It is their need for revenge or vindication that motivates these stalkers. Dysfunctional cognitive thinking propels stalking behavior.

Next Senate Voting Session October 23, 2008

The Senate returns from summer vacation on October 1st. The first Senate voting session will be October 23, 2008. The countdown clock is counting down the days until 10-23 - the first opportunity to post this legislation S1106 A1563 for a vote by the full Senate. The Assembly has already unanimously passed this legislation.

Stalked to Walt Disney World Vacation 2008

With summer ending, everyone is talking about their vacation. Vacations when you are being stalked - escaping for some much needed R&R - are really not possible but the folks at Disney go out of their way to accommodate your special needs. A few days after testifying for the Assembly Law and Public Safety hearing in Feb 2008, I traveled with my child and close friend and her child to Disney World for the ESPN weekend event. Five hours after our plane landed in Florida, I was receiving phone calls on my cell phone from fax machines all around the state of NJ - area codes 973, 201, 609. The calls were coming ten minutes apart. (If you read the entire testimony below, you will know that on my birthday in Nov of 1998 my stalker found me in Disney World and used the voice changer machine from the slasher movie SCREAM to call my hotel room and sing Happy Birthday - I hung up and he called back. ) We were staying at the Polynesian Resort in 1998 and again in 2008 when the stalker reached out to scare us. I cannot describe for you how terribly disconcerting it is to know that someone is always tracking you and thinking of ways to scare you and ruin your life or spoil your vacation. Thankfully the folks at the front desk at the Polynesian were incredibly accommodating. Upon check in, they suggested we change our names and even printed our new identity on our ID Cards. Since it was ESPN the weekend - we became the Johan Santana family - see photo. They turned off the phone in our hotel room and moved our room as close to the main building as possible. I turned off my cell phone. For the remainder of our long weekend, we were the Santana family - we met our long lost relative Joaquin at the Contemporary Hotel gift shop and the maids thinking Johan was actually in the room asked the kids if their parents were in the room. Six months later, I get materials from Disney addressed to the Santana family. The trip was a blast. You rock Disney!

Proposed NJ antistalking legislation A1563 S1106

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A2000/1563_I1.PDF

(Sponsorship Updated As Of: 2/26/2008)
ASSEMBLY, No. 1563
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
213th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2008 SESSION
2
EXPLANATION – Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is
not enacted and is intended to be omitted in the law.
Matter underlined thus is new matter.
AN ACT concerning stalking 1 and amending P.L.1992, c.209.
2
3 BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State
4 of New Jersey:
5
6 1. Section 1 of P.L.1992, c.209 (C.2C:12-10) is amended to
7 read as follows:
8 1. a. As used in this act:
9 (1) "Course of conduct" means repeatedly maintaining a visual
10 or physical proximity to a person; directly, indirectly, or through
11 third parties, by any action, method, device, or means, following,
12 monitoring, observing, surveilling, threatening, or communicating
13 to or about, a person, or interfering with a person’s property;
14 repeatedly committing harassment against a person, including but
15 not limited to repeatedly making telephone calls; or repeatedly
16 conveying, or causing to be conveyed, verbal or written threats or
17 threats conveyed by any other means of communication or threats
18 implied by conduct or a combination thereof directed at or toward a
19 person.
20 (2) "Repeatedly" means on two or more occasions.
21 (3) “Emotional distress” means significant mental suffering or
22 distress that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or other
23 professional treatment or counseling.
24 [(3) "Immediate family" means a spouse, parent, child, sibling or
25 any other person who regularly resides in the household or who
26 within the prior six months regularly resided in the household.]
27 b. A person is guilty of stalking, a crime of the [fourth] third
28 degree, if he purposefully or knowingly engages in a course of
29 conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable
30 person to fear [bodily injury to himself or a member of his
31 immediate family or to fear the death of himself or a member of his
32 immediate family] for his safety or the safety of a third person or
33 suffer other emotional distress.
34 c. A person [is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he] who
35 commits the crime of stalking in violation of an existing court order
36 prohibiting the behavior shall be sentenced by the court to a
37 mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of six months, during
38 which the defendant shall be ineligible for parole.
39 d. A person who commits a second or subsequent offense of
40 stalking against the same victim [is guilty of a crime of the third
41 degree] shall be sentenced by the court to a mandatory minimum
42 term of imprisonment of six months, during which the defendant
43 shall be ineligible for parole.
A1563 GREENSTEIN, MUNOZ
3
e. A person [is guilty of a crime o 1 f the third degree if he] who
2 commits the crime of stalking while serving a term of imprisonment
3 or while on parole or probation as the result of a conviction for any
4 indictable offense under the laws of this State, any other state or the
5 United States shall be sentenced by the court to a mandatory
6 minimum term of imprisonment of six months, during which the
7 defendant shall be ineligible for parole.
8 f. A person who commits the crime of stalking against a victim
9 who is less than 18 years of age shall be sentenced by the court to a
10 mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of six months, during
11 which the defendant shall be ineligible for parole.
12 g. This act shall not apply to conduct which occurs during
13 organized group picketing.
14 (cf: P.L.2001, c.220, s.2)
15
16 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
17
18
19 STATEMENT
20
21 This bill would amend the stalking law to broaden protections for
22 victims. The majority of the bill’s provisions were recommended
23 by the 2007 report of the National Center for Victims of Crime,
24 “The Model Stalking Code Revisited: Responding to the New
25 Realities of Stalking.”
26 Under the bill, a person would be guilty of the crime of stalking
27 if his actions cause the victim to fear for his safety or the safety of a
28 third person. Current law provides that a person is guilty of
29 stalking only if his actions cause the victim to fear bodily injury to
30 or the death of himself or a member of his immediate family. The
31 report by the National Center for Victims of Crime notes that
32 reducing the level of fear required in a stalking statute would
33 provide earlier and better protection for stalking victims. The
34 report also states that stalkers may target third parties other than the
35 victim’s family members, such as employers or intimate partners,
36 and that therefore these persons should be protected by the law.
37 The bill also provides that a person would be guilty of stalking if
38 he purposefully or knowingly engages in a course of conduct
39 directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to
40 suffer emotional distress. According to the report, certain types of
41 stalking behavior committed as part of a course of conduct might
42 not meet the standard of “fear for safety” but nonetheless should be
43 addressed by law, such as making repeated telephone calls to a
44 victim.
45 The bill defines “emotional distress” as “significant mental
46 suffering or distress that may, but does not necessarily, require
47 medical or other professional treatment or counseling.”
A1563 GREENSTEIN, MUNOZ
4
The bill also amends the definition 1 of “course of conduct” in the
2 stalking statute. Under the bill, “course of conduct” would include
3 “directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method,
4 device, or means, following, monitoring, observing, surveilling,
5 threatening, or communicating to or about, a person, or interfering
6 with a person’s property; repeatedly committing harassment against
7 a person, including but not limited to repeatedly making telephone
8 calls.” The new language is intended to cover stalking by means of
9 new technology, such as situations where the stalker tracks the
10 victim through the use of a global positioning system attached to
11 the victim’s car.
12 The offense of harassment, set out in N.J.S.A.2C:33-4, provides
13 that a person commits harassment if, with purpose to harass
14 another, he makes, or causes to be made, a communication or
15 communications anonymously or at extremely inconvenient hours,
16 or in offensively coarse language, or any other manner likely to
17 cause annoyance or alarm, or engages in any other course of
18 alarming conduct or of repeatedly committed acts with purpose to
19 alarm or seriously annoy such other person. The sponsor notes that
20 stalkers may use indirect threats that do not cause the victim to
21 reach the level of fear set out in the statute but that do alarm the
22 victim.
23 Finally, the bill upgrades the crime of stalking to a crime of the
24 third degree. Under current law, stalking is generally a crime of the
25 fourth degree for a first offense. Stalking is currently a crime of the
26 third degree if it is committed in violation of an existing court order
27 prohibiting the behavior, if it is a second or subsequent offense of
28 stalking against the same victim, or if the defendant commits the
29 crime of stalking while serving a term of imprisonment or while on
30 parole or probation. Under the bill, stalking would generally be a
31 crime of the third degree. In the specific cases set out above,
32 stalking would be punishable by a mandatory minimum term of
33 imprisonment of six months. The bill also provides that stalking
34 would be punishable by a mandatory six-month term if the victim is
35 less than 18 years of age.
36 A crime of the fourth degree is punishable by a term of
37 imprisonment of up to 18 months or a fine of up to $10,000 or both;
38 a crime of the third degree, by a term of imprisonment of three to
39 five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both.

State by State Stalking Statutes - NJ vs CA

Compare the California Stalking law which was strengthened again in 2008 with the current NJ stalking law adopted in 1992 and amended in 2001. NJ needs the swift passage of A1563 and S1106 - the proposed NJ stalking legislation.

http://www.ncvc.org/SRC/main.aspx?dbID=DB_State-byState_Statutes117

County of San Diego District Attorney Stalking Strike Force

http://www.sdcda.org/protecting/stalking.php
Imagine being pursued - hunted by someone who knows your every move. No matter what you do, you can’t shake them. You look in the rearview mirror and there they are. Panic sets in. You have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. Welcome to the life of a stalking victim.

Stalking is not a new phenomenon. But widespread recognition of stalking as a social and criminal justice concern is relatively recent. California enacted anti-stalking legislation in 1990, and in 1994 Congress passed the national Violence Against Women Act.

Nationwide, one in 12 women will be victims of stalking at some point in their lives. Men make up a smaller, but equally victimized group.

Stalking cases are unique because they can involve ongoing behavior that can last for years. Often, several police agencies are involved in coordinating the investigation. Victims are among the most emotionally traumatized because of the ongoing and threatening nature of the crime.


Profiles of Stalkers:
THE STALKERS:9.5% Erotomania: Stalker falsely believes that the target, usually someone famous or rich, is in love with the stalker.
43% Love obsession: Stalker is a stranger to the target but is obsessed and mounts a campaign of harassment to make the target aware of the stalker's existence.
47% Simple obsession: Stalker usually male, knows target as an ex-spouse, ex-lover, or former boss, and begins a campaign of harassment.

THE VICTIMS:
38% Ordinary Citizens32% Lesser known entertainment figures.17% Highly recognizable celebrities.13% Former employer; other professionals.

THREATS
Direct Threats-Straightforward and explicit statements of an intention to commit harm that do no state conditions that might avert harm.
Veiled Threats-Indirect, vague, or subtle statements suggesting potential harm that do not state conditions that might avert harm.
Conditional Threats-Statements portending harm and specifying either conditions to be met in order to avert the harm or conditions under which the threat will be carried out.
Other resources and valuable links about stalking:
National Center for Victims of Crime
Summary of the Violence Against Women Act