Nov. 17, 2016
HARRISBURG – Last spring, Rep. Mauree Gingrich (R-Lebanon) sponsored
House Resolution 735 directing the Joint State Government Commission to study Pennsylvania’s Protection from Abuse (PFA) Act and report its findings to the General Assembly. The results of the study were released this week.
Gingrich ordered the study following the fatal shooting of Stacey Pennington in Mount Gretna in the summer of 2015. Pennington had secured a PFA order against her ex-boyfriend before he shot and killed her outside the Gretna Emporium gift shop, which she owned.
Pennsylvania adopted the
PFA Act in 1976, becoming only the second state in the country to do so. While the law has been amended and strengthened several times since then, the Pennington case and others like it signaled a need for further examination.
“The commission was tasked with identifying any deficiencies in the PFA law that could leave victims vulnerable to further violence,” said Gingrich. “It produced a report containing several recommendations that will provide the basis for new legislation in the upcoming legislative session.
“The recommendations address the safety of victims while a PFA is being served on an abuser, and help to ensure that these violent defendants do not possess, or have access to, weapons that may be used against their victims. It also urges courts to use risk assessment tools to evaluate the risk to victims of allowing bail for defendants who violate a PFA order by means of physical violence.
“No action can prevent perpetrators who are mentally ill or otherwise psychologically determined to harm or kill a former partner from acting on those urges – particularly if they are suicidal. However, it is my hope that the commission’s report will result in legislation to prevent these violent deaths.”
Throughout her career in state and local government, Gingrich, who is retiring on Nov. 30 after 14 years in the House, has championed legislation to protect children, the elderly, the physically and mentally handicapped and victims of domestic violence.
The Joint State Government Commission is a nonpartisan, bicameral research and policy development agency for the General Assembly of Pennsylvania.
Representative Mauree Gingrich
101st District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Donna Pinkham
717.260.6452
dpinkham@pahousegop.com
RepGingrich.com