Protective orders could get easier to lift

The Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee gave a unanimous thumbs-up on Friday to a bill relaxing the state's protective order statute.

SB183, sponsored by Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, would add new criteria to the law determining when a court can amend or dismiss a protective order that has been in effect for more than a year.

One of the proposed new criteria would be if the person being protected by the order deliberately tries to induce the recipient of the order to violate it.

McCoy said there were punishments included in the bill for anyone who makes a false claim in order to get a protective order lifted.

"The last thing we want to do is to give another weapon to a harasser," he said.

Utah Domestic Violence Council Executive Director Judy Kasten Bell told committee members she was "firmly opposed" to McCoy's proposal.

"The parties are not on an equal playing field," she said. "The respondent to the order can already just say 'No' to an inducement to breach."

Utah Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka said she supported McCoy's bill. She said she understood the importance of protective orders but also felt there needed to be more balance in the law.

"A year is enough," Ruzicka said. "There's two sides to the story, and sometimes we don't hear the other side."

After Ruzicka addressed the committee, the unabashedly liberal McCoy pointed out the peculiarity of being supported by the head of the notoriously conservative Eagle Forum.

"I think I just shot my zero percent rating with the Eagle Forum," he joked.