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Balancing the Scales – new law may enhance safety for those victims whose perpetrators are on parole.
Mersaides McCauley was a 22-year old young woman with a future full of possibilities ahead of her – until she was murdered on April 6, 2008 by her ex-boyfriend, who killed himself later that same day. At the time of Mersaides murder the ex-boyfriend, Glenford Martinez, was on parole after having served 13 years in prison for murder and attempted murder. He was on parole when he was arrested for allegedly strangling Ms. McCauley. That incident led her to seek an order of protection against him. Martinez was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery and was allowed to remain free on bond until his scheduled trial date. The Illinois Department of Corrections (charged with overseeing Martinez’s parole) was aware of the domestic battery charge but did not seek a warrant for a violation of his parole based on the alleged domestic violence incident. A parole-violation warrant would have allowed law enforcement to hold Martinez without bail pending the disposition of the new charges. But at that time the law only required parole-violation warrants for cases where the parolees were charged with felonies involving the use of a knife or a gun. Whether or not to issue warrants on other parole violations, such as misdemeanor domestic battery, was at the discretion of the Department of Corrections.
This case caught the attention of the Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, and of the Illinois Department of Corrections – and – with the help of a lawsuit filed by McCauley’s estate - changes in practice and policy soon followed. A new state law, named after Mersaides, will take effect on January1, 2010. The law will require parolees be held on violation if they commit domestic battery, aggravated battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, violation of an order of protection or any offense that would require sex offender registration. According to Sarah’s Inn’s Interventions Programs Manager, Meg Hefty Dulay, “giving equal weight to all domestic violence crimes in consideration of a parole revocation demonstrates to victims and victim service providers that the state is starting to take domestic violence more seriously and that it understands that handing out tougher consequences for each domestic violence crime can prevent further harm to victims.”
The lawsuit filed against the City of Chicago and the Illinois Department of Corrections on behalf of Mersaides McCauley is still pending.
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