CALCASA Testifies for Several Bills

March 26, 2008 |
Valor

There is no shortage of bills in the California Legislature that affect CALCASA’s members. Tuesday in both Assembly and Senate Public Safety Committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee, CALCASA testified on a variety of legislation related to sexual violence.
Two of those bills include: SB 1356 Contempt: victim of domestic violence (Yee) and SB 1339 Government tort claims: childhood sexual abuse (Simitian).
SB 1339 (Simitian), supported by CALCASA, would expand sexual assault survivors’ rights to access civil remedies and causes of action to address the impacts of sexual violence.
SB 1356 (Yee) seeks to prevent the incarceration of domestic violence victims who refuse to testify in court on the grounds of protecting their safety. Under current law, a domestic violence victim can be held in contempt of court and be incarcerated by a judge for refusing to testify against her batterer.
The bill was supported by the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, California Protective Parents Association, California Public Defenders Association, Crime Victims United, Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.