TRENTON, NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Right now, someone being harassed by a stranger cannot file for a restraining order in New Jersey without enduring a long legal process. That’s why lawmakers in Trenton Monday advanced a bill to close a loophole and provide greater protection from stalkers and harassment.
Senator Jon Bramnick says he wasn’t aware of this loophole until a 23-year-old family friend mentioned she was being harassed by someone she didn’t know via texts, emails and phone calls and there was nothing she could do about it.
“So she went to the police station and they go, ‘Well, you know I can’t take this to court to get a restraining order because you never dated him, so why don’t you just block him on the phone?’ And she said, ‘You don’t understand. This is really threatening stuff’ and they said, ‘Well, you can file a criminal complaint.”
Bramnick says when she filed a criminal complaint, it took eight months to even get a hearing and the alleged stalker was free to continue doing what he was doing the whole time.
The current law is very specific in requiring evidence of a past relationship – anything from a former spouse to someone you went on one date with – to file for a restraining order.
“Part of the reason the law is that way is because I think the courts thought there would be too many restraining orders, which I think is absurd,” Bramnick said.
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Bramnick’s bill would allow people to file a restraining order against anyone threatening or harassing them, regardless if any previous relationship existed. Other states, including California, already allow this.
“In today’s crazy world, we want to protect people from crazy people, and this expands the protection against the nuts,” Bramnick said.
The bill has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and Bramnick hopes it will come up for a full vote later this month.
“This is going to open the door for someone being stalked to get a restraining order,” Bramnick said.