NH House passes "Joshua's Law"
This week the NH House overwhelmingly passed SB 318, known as "Joshua's Law," named after a 9 year old boy named Joshua Savyon who was killed by his father during a supervised visit related to a domestic violence protective order. The Senate already passed the bill last month. After the Senate passed the bill, Governor Hassan issued a press release supporting the bill, so it is expected the bill will become law.
The bill creates a new crime of Domestic Violence, which is a class A misdemeanor, or a class B felony if the person "uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon" when committing the offense. The unlawful actions under this law must be between household members, family or intimate partners, as is required under the Domestic Violence Protection Act.
The scope of the crime includes many types of acts, such as causing bodily injury, use or attempted use of physical force, and threatening to use a deadly weapon. The bill also makes it a crime to threaten to use a deadly weapon to cause another to submit to sexual conduct, use physical force or threat of a deadly weapon to interfere with the other person's physical movement, or to block that person's access to a cell phone, telephone or other electronic communication device if trying to prevent that person from calling the police or emergency medical assistance.
The conduct and actions under this bill are similar to those under the Domestic Violence Protection Act, RSA 173-B. The difference is that the consequences of RSA 173-B are primarily civil only. By creating a crime of Domestic Violence, a person committing the acts included in the bill if it is made into law, can be found guilty of a crime and may, therefore, bear all the immediate and collateral consequences of having a criminal conviction.
The bill creates a new crime of Domestic Violence, which is a class A misdemeanor, or a class B felony if the person "uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon" when committing the offense. The unlawful actions under this law must be between household members, family or intimate partners, as is required under the Domestic Violence Protection Act.
The scope of the crime includes many types of acts, such as causing bodily injury, use or attempted use of physical force, and threatening to use a deadly weapon. The bill also makes it a crime to threaten to use a deadly weapon to cause another to submit to sexual conduct, use physical force or threat of a deadly weapon to interfere with the other person's physical movement, or to block that person's access to a cell phone, telephone or other electronic communication device if trying to prevent that person from calling the police or emergency medical assistance.
The conduct and actions under this bill are similar to those under the Domestic Violence Protection Act, RSA 173-B. The difference is that the consequences of RSA 173-B are primarily civil only. By creating a crime of Domestic Violence, a person committing the acts included in the bill if it is made into law, can be found guilty of a crime and may, therefore, bear all the immediate and collateral consequences of having a criminal conviction.
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