As many victims will attest, modern technology has become the stalker’s first refuge. According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, one in four victims of stalking are being harassed within the cyberworld, through email or instant messaging. The number of victims stalked through GPS devices, video or digital cameras or listening devices is also on the increase.
This sinister side of technology will never go away, but fortunately, meaningful steps are being taken in both the prosecution and the societal awareness about the crime.
Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna on Thursday proposed legislation that would create a new stalking civil protection order, which would be strengthened by tougher penalties for stalking. Citizens would benefit from swift and decisive action on the bill by the Legislature.
McKenna’s bill would allow prosecutors to charge anyone who violates the newly created stalking civil protection order with either a misdemeanor or a felony. Penalties would be similar to current punishment for violating sexual assault or domestic violence protection orders. As a condition of pretrial release, an electronic monitoring device could be ordered.
Many existing legal protections that are designed for domestic violence cases do not apply to stalking cases, but McKenna’s proposal would change that. And stalking would be changed from a Class C felony to a Class B felony, with the maximum penalty increasing from five years to 10 years in prison. A new aggravating factor for stalking would allow courts to impose a sentence beyond the standard range.
In designing the proposal, McKenna consulted David Martin, deputy prosecutor at the King County Prosecutor’s Office, who said: “By the time victims call the police, the stalking behavior has been well established, and the victim’s attempts to stop it have failed. This is exactly when victims need a strong response from the courts.”
If adopted, the legislation would provide a new level of assurance to victims that their most powerful allies in the criminal justice system can be summoned and results can be expected. Even so, the scourge of stalking shows no sign of diminishing in our society. About 3.4 million people are stalked each year in the United States, the National Center for Victims of Crimes reports. These are victims who might not know the legal definition of stalking. (The center says a good working definition is “a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.”) But these victims certainly know what fear feels like.
Both the victims and the culprits often search for explanations, when in reality, none is needed. No one needs to figure out why. The simple fact remains: Stalking is illegal. It’s a crime in 50 states. Fewer than one-third of the states classify stalking as a felony upon first offense. More than half of the states classify stalking as a felony upon second offense or when aggravating factors are involved. (Those factors could include possession of a deadly weapon, violation of a court order or a condition of probation/parole, victim younger than 16 years of age, or same victim as prior occasions.)
For these statistical reasons, and in the interests of crime prevention, January has been recognized since 2004 as National Stalking Awareness Month, thanks to the advocacy of the National Stalking Resource Center, the National Center for Victims of Crime, and the Office on Violence Against Women.
It’s good to know that efforts are under way at local, state and national levels to prevent stalking, and to prosecute the culprits. For more information: http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/ or http://stalkingawarenessmonth.org.
