HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – Survivors of domestic violence, stalking and harassment came to the Montana Capitol Wednesday to rally support for Senate Bill 114, which would update laws around stalking and restraining orders.
Tim Pierce with the UM Legislative News Service reports that Angela Miller was one of several people who supported the bill’s inclusion of cyber communication as a form of stalking. She says her ex-boyfriend repeatedly harassed her through email, but the police weren’t able to take action.
“The fact that it was email did not make it benign.”
The ACLU’s Zuri Moreno opposed the bill’s five-to-ten-year increase in sentencing for repeat offenders. They say the jump would just cause the criminal justice system more grief.
“We already have a burdened criminal justice system. We do not need to hold people in state prisons for longer.”
The proposed bill would also allow victims of child sex abuse and human trafficking to be granted restraining orders.
