Domestic abusers who violate their restraining orders will be required to wear a GPS tracking device, according to a new Massachusetts state law spearheaded by HLS lecturer Diane Rosenfeld ’96. Signed into law on January 4, the GPS initiative was first presented to the Governor’s Commission on Sexual and Domestic Violence by Rosenfeld in early 2005.
Under the new law, if a domestic abuser enters a geographic “exclusion zone”—a court-determined restricted area, such as a victim’s home or workplace, or a child’s school—the GPS device will immediately alert both the domestic abuse victim and the police. According to existing Massachusetts law, any individual who violates his restraining order is eligible for a $5,000 fine and a prison sentence of more than two years.