(The Center Square) \u2013 The time for lifting restraining orders would be extended to 25 years in California if a new bill passes in the Golden State this year.<\/p>\n
Senate Bill 1395<\/a>, nicknamed \u201cKayleigh\u2019s Law,\u201d would increase the length of time for a restraining order from 10 years to 25 years, according to the bill author\u2019s testimony during a Capitol hearing on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cIn California today, a child who has already been through unimaginable trauma is forced to return to court over and over again, face their abuser and re-tell their story just to maintain basic protection,\u201d Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Lancaster and the author of the bill, testified during the Senate Public Safety Committee meeting. \u201cThat is not justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Recent amendments to the bill would allow a judge, at the time of sentencing, to issue a protective order for up to 25 years for felony sex offenses against minors, a change from the previous text of the bill, which would have allowed judges to grant permanent restraining orders. The most recent amendments also aim to make restraining orders longer so that survivors of those crimes don\u2019t have to return to court multiple times to renew their restraining orders, which Valladares said re-traumatizes victims.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore amendments, this bill allowed for a lifetime protection,\u201d Valladares testified. \u201cThat does remain a goal of Kayleigh and myself, both in California and nationally because if the threat doesn\u2019t expire, the protection shouldn\u2019t either.\u201d<\/p>\n Kayleigh\u2019s Law, which has passed in other states, was inspired by the experience of Kayleigh Kozak, who was sexually abused by her soccer coach as a child. According to NBC 12 News in Arizona<\/a>, the coach was convicted and sentenced to lifetime probation. Kozak and her family got word in 2020 that he was petitioning to have the court lift his probation. \u201cKayleigh\u2019s Law\u201d passed in Arizona<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n