Senator Joey Hensley, MD:Tennessee 28th District Capitol Hill Week in Review

Criminal abuse can have deadly consequences for victims. This is why it is of the utmost importance that our laws in Tennessee protect victims and punish abusers. Unfortunately, for many years, Tennessee has been in the top percentile for domestic violence and, specifically, domestic violence deaths.

Thousands of people in Tennessee are, or will become, victims of domestic violence. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, around 39.6% of women and 36.8% of men in the state will experience some form of domestic violence during their lives. This ranks Tennessee 15th in the nation for the rate of domestic violence against women and 3rd for the rate against men.

In the last few years, in the General Assembly we have worked hard to strengthen our laws regarding domestic violence and abuse to hopefully save lives and protect Tennessee victims. Below are some of the efforts from the 2024 legislative session that help ensure victims are protected in Tennessee.

Debbie and Marie Domestic Violence Protection Act

In the General Assembly we passed legislation this year to increase protections for victims of aggravated domestic assault in Tennessee.

Senate Bill 1972, also known as the Debbie and Marie Domestic Violence Protection Act, requires aggravated assault suspects in certain domestic violence cases to wear a global position monitoring system (GPS) if they are released on bond.

Under the new law, a GPS service provider must be able to notify a victim’s cell phone if their alleged attacker is within a certain proximity of their location. The company would also be required to notify local law enforcement when a violation of a defendant’s bond conditions occurred.

The law is named in honor of Debbie Sisco and Marie Varsos Both women were killed in 2021 by Varsos’ estranged husband Shaun who was out on bond for strangling his wife and threatening to shoot her a month earlier. There were 61,637 victims of domestic violence statewide in 2022, according to the most recent data from Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Marsy’s Law

In an effort to support Tennessee crime victims and prevent further trauma, Tennessee lawmakers passed a measure this year which proposes to put Marsy’s Law in the state constitution to ensure crime victims’ rights are protected. Marsy’s Law will ensure that victims have equal access to justice as convicted criminals. This proposed constitutional amendment seeks to establish clear and enforceable constitutional rights for victims of crime, including the rights to be: heard, informed, and treated with fairness, dignity, and respect through the judicial process.

Named after Marsalee Nicholas, it is part of a nationwide effort to support crime victims and prevent further trauma. Marsalee Nicholas’s family ran into the man who murdered Marsy a week after her death at the grocery store on the way back from her funeral. Marsy’s murderer was her ex-boyfriend, who stalked and killed her while she was a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983. Her family was not notified that he was released on bail. Marsy’s Law seeks to ensure devastating and traumatic experiences like this never happen to victims in Tennessee. This constitutional amendment passed its first of two required passages by the General Assembly.

In order to ratify the constitution, a constitutional amendment must pass the general assembly twice. The first time it must pass with a simple majority voting in favor. The second time it must pass the next General Assembly by a two-thirds majority. Finally, the amendment would become part of the state constitution if the number of yes votes are equal to a majority of the total votes in the following gubernatorial election.

You May Contact

Senator Hensley at

425 Rep. John Lewis Way N., Suite 742

Nashville TN 37243

615-741-3100

Toll Free 1-800-449-8366 ext. 13100

Fax 615-253-0231

855 Summertown Highway

Hohenwald TN 38462

Phone 931-796-2018

Cell Phone 931-212-8823

E-mail: [email protected]