Senate enacts Sen. Deschambault bill to support domestic violence survivors

AUGUSTA – On Friday, July 2, the Maine Senate unanimously voted to enact and fund LD 803, a bill from Sen. Susan Deschambault, D-Biddeford, to support domestic violence survivors by making it a Class C crime to violate orders that are similar to protection orders.

“This past year, legislators were busy helping constituents with job losses, business struggles, and health care concerns due to the pandemic. Those problems and issues were expected, until I received a very different request from a constituent for help,” said Sen. Deschambault. “I received a call from an acquaintance who stated she feared for her niece who had been the victim of a domestic assault. This bill will help domestic violence survivors like this woman’s niece.”

During Fiscal Year 2020, the Maine courts had nearly 20,000 filings in the Family Division; of this total, half were for Protection from Abuse and Family Matters Post-Judgment. It has also been widely reported nearly half of the homicides in Maine involved domestic violence.

According to York County District Attorney Kathryn Slattery, “LD 803 does not enact a new felony. This modification is to simply treat all protection orders the same as it does everywhere else in the statute.” Instead, LD 803 makes the law consistent with the principles of the Violence Against Women Act and the Full Faith and Credit Clause.

LD 803 now goes to the desk of Gov. Janet Mills, who has 10 days to sign the bill into law, veto it or allow it to become law without her signature.

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