Mar 28, 2017 4 min read

At a news conference in Harrisburg Tuesday afternoon, four Republican senators discussed separate bills they are introducing that would strengthen the protection-from-abuse statutes in Pennsylvania.

Not surprisingly, the Ewing case came up.

“I’m calling this Tierne’s Law,” said Sen. Camera Bartolotta, the Carroll Township lawmaker, of House Bill 449. It would clarify that magisterial district judges, during the bail-setting process in domestic violence cases, could use a risk-assessment tool to help determine whether a defendant may pose further danger to an alleged victim.

Bartolotta was referring to Tierne Ewing, who was kidnapped and beaten by her husband, Kevin, for 12 days last summer in Washington County. He was charged with kidnapping and assault, jailed and placed under house arrest. Then, in late August, he cut off his ankle bracelet and followed through on his vow to shoot both of them to death.

“My bill is based on one simple premise – the more information we make available to judges, the better the chances they can protect victims who are still in danger,” Bartolotta said. “That adds up to more assaults prevented, and more lives saved.

“Tierne’s case was a senseless crime that left a trail of devastated family and friends in its wake. We must make it our mission to close loopholes in state laws that create an unnecessary danger to domestic violence victims, so no family has to endure the same kind of pain and heartache as Tierne’s family.”

Domestic violence continues to be a pervasive and perplexing issue. In Pennsylvania, it affected more than 89,000 victims last year. There were 102 deaths (56 women, 46 men), 56 percent of them by firearm, according to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Bartolotta spoke at the news conference with GOP colleagues Randy Vulakovich of Shaler, and Thomas McGarrigle and Tom Killion of Delaware County. Ellen Kramer, of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, also stepped to the dais along with Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan and Tom Gross of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.

“Every day, victims of domestic abuse are seeking protection, yet we continue to experience a senseless loss of life,” said Killion, who oversaw the conference. “These bills are intended to strengthen our Protection From Abuse Act to provide greater safety for victims and communities.”

Gross also referred to Washington County during his address, mentioning the Nov. 10 killing of Canonsburg police Officer Scott Bashioum and the wounding of his partner, Jim Saieva Jr. They were ambushed and shot from the window of a home by Michael Cwiklinski, who later killed his wife, Dalia Sabae, and himself. Sabae had a PFA order against Cwiklinski.

Gross also spoke of the Dec. 30 killing of state Trooper Landon Weaver, who was responding to a domestic abuse call in Huntingdon County.

“Both of these officers were shot by people under PFA orders,” Gross said. “While these officers were killed while performing their duties, they actually are among people who were killed in domestic violence cases this year.”

Vulakovich’s Senate Bill 500 calls for “a law enforcement official to accompany a plaintiff for the issuance of a PFA” against a defendant if the plaintiff believes his or her life is in danger.

“The best way is to take someone with law enforcement authority with you,” said Vulakovich, who worked for the Shaler Township police department for 27 years. “There is a protection factor there, and the officer can set the guidelines to be performed.”

Senate Bill 502, sponsored by McGarrigle, would allow courts to extend terms of an existing PFA or issue a new order in certain instances. And Killion’s HB 501 calls for all parties involved in PFA cases and those convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence to hand over firearms to law enforcement or a registered gun dealer.

The bills will go to a Senate committee for debate, then to the Senate floor.