On Sunday, October 21, 2012, Radcliffe Haughton, 45, opened fire in
a Wisconsin spa, wounding 4 people, killing three (his wife included) and
himself. Haughton's wife, Zina Haughton, began to fear for her safety when her
husband began issuing violent threats and slashed her tires. Zina Haughton was
able to obtain a 4-year restraining order against her husband, but it was of no
use, as he violated it. This tragedy is more proof that restraining orders without strong legislation
and
more police enforcement behind them are useless to victims.
Just a week before the shooting, on October 18, 2012 in the
Judiciary Report article,
Music Promoter That Killed Jamaican Musician Captain Barkey And His
Girlfriend In New York Kills Himself In Miami, the site wrote
regarding restraining orders, "In many cases, restraining orders fail victims, as stalkers are criminally
minded, mentally ill, irrational and have no respect for the law. Police often
do little about stalking cases, which needs to change, via new legislation in
America, issuing greater legal penalties to offenders."
Congress needs to come up with strong anti-stalking legislation
on a federal level (applying to the entire country)
rather than individual laws in effect that often vary by state. Some uniformity
is needed. Once a
person makes a specific threat or begins to stalk another, it should be grounds
for incarceration. Victims should not have to wait until stalkers, who are often
violent, violate the restraining order to have police step in - and even then,
current legislation is not enough to make an impact.
The Judiciary Report is of the belief, the issuance of a
properly issued restraining order should automatically equate to jail time. Some
stalkers would think twice before engaging in said illegal activity if they knew
a restraining order could be filed that meant one strike and you are out, not
two or three (to paraphrase baseball lingo).
To the violent stalker it would meant the threat posed to the
victim's safety would be neutralized for a time, with the hope that said
duration would be long enough for a mental evaluation and medication for the
offender. Too many innocent men and women have died terrible deaths or been
severely injured as a result of stalkers gone wild, for the government not to do
more about this growing problem.
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