Attorney General Rob McKenna, unveiling his agenda for the legislative session that begins next week, said Thursday that he will request legislation that would provide stronger protection for victims of stalking.
Paulson says measures in the bill could have saved the life of his daughter, Jennifer Paulson, who was fatally shot outside Birney Elementary School in 2010 by a man who had stalked her for years. She was 30 years old and worked as a special education teacher at the school.
“I want the next father to be able to walk his daughter down the aisle … to hold the children of his daughter,” Paulson told reporters at the announcement.
The proposed bill would create a new stalking civil protection order, which McKenna said would offer stronger legal protections for those victims who don’t have a dating or family relationship with their stalkers. Paulson and her stalker – who was later killed exchanging fire with a Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy – attended the same college but were only acquaintances.
The legislation would allow prosecutors to charge violators of the order with either a misdemeanor or a felony and would double the maximum penalty for felony stalking to 10 years behind bars.
It also would authorize electronic monitoring as a condition of pretrial release for those arrested for felony violation of a protection order, or when a no-contact order is issued.
Ken Paulson has previously advocated for GPS tracking of those who violate protection orders and are released on bail. His daughter’s killer had been released on a misdemeanor charge for violating an anti-harassment order days before the killing.
Erin Curtis, a Seattle criminal defense attorney, said her concerns with proposals such as McKenna’s revolve around ensuring that GPS systems are affordable for all defendants, that judges evaluate GPS use on a case-by-case basis and that courts use the tracking information appropriately.
McKenna’s legislative agenda also proposes allowing government entities to record executive sessions without fear that the recordings will become public records they must release.
McKenna also added measures to make it easier for public hospitals to settle lawsuits, which he says would save the state money.
Alexis Krell: 360-943-7123 alexis.krell@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/politics
