May 9, 2017 1 min read

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill Tuesday introduced by Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, that would strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence.

Senate Bill 449 clarifies that judges can use risk assessment tools to determine whether a defendant poses a danger to a victim when setting bail in domestic violence cases. Risk assessment tools have proven to be effective in predicting an offender’s odds of re-offending and creating a dangerous circumstance for victims, Bartolotta said.

Bartolotta named the bill Tierne’s Law in honor of Tierne Ewing, the West Finley woman who was kidnapped and later murdered by her estranged husband in August 2016. The killer had been arrested a few weeks prior to the kidnapping for domestic violence and other offenses, but was granted bail in spite of the prosecutor’s request for bail to be raised or revoked.

“The more information we make available to judges regarding offenders, the better the chances they can protect victims who are still in danger,” Bartolotta said.

The bill now goes to the full Senate.