Office of Racial Equity, advocates oppose mandatory domestic-violence-program penalties in testimony on House bill

Members of the Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on a House bill that would change how courts handle orders of protection and require attendance at domestic-violence accountability programs.

The Office of Racial Equity testified that it opposes a provision in the bill (referred to repeatedly in testimony as "section J") that would permit judges to order mandatory attendance and create civil contempt or criminal penalties for failure to comply. Anhega, a representative of the Office of Racial Equity, said the topic is personal: "this conversation is very important to us as an artist, but to me as a person because I am a domestic violence survivor." The office said it supported the bill's updated definitions and gender-neutral language but asked the committee to remove the section that makes program attendance mandatory and criminalizes noncompliance.

The nut graf: Witnesses told the committee that mandatory attendance and criminal penalties could create enforcement and safety problems for survivors, increase caseloads for already-burdened prosecutors, and produce unintended consequences for plaintiffs and respondents in family- and criminal-court cases. Several presenters urged that the state first gather…