California State Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Acton, testified last week before the House Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance in support of the federal version of Kayleigh’s Law, legislation that would allow judges to issue lifetime protective orders against dangerous offenders at the time of sentencing.
The law is named after Kayleigh Kozak, a crime survivor who was repeatedly forced to return to court to renew restraining orders against a perpetrator convicted of abusing her as a minor, said a news release from Valladares’ office. Kozak was forced to relive her trauma — over and over — simply to maintain the protections she already had, the release said.
“We’ve built a system with gaps and the consequences are real,” Valladares said in the release. “Survivors who did everything right — reported the crime, testified, obtained protection orders — are being failed by a system that lets those protections expire. If someone is dangerous enough to commit a serious violent crime, a survivor should not have to keep going back to court just to stay safe.”
Kayleigh’s Law is already in place in multiple states. Valladares authored the proposed California version of the bill, Senate Bill 1395. Despite organized opposition, a narrowed version of the bill recently passed the California Senate Public Safety Committee with unanimous bipartisan support and now advances to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The amended bill would provide victims of child felony sex offenses up to 25 years of protection, which is a significant step toward Kayleigh’s Law, the release said.
Valladares testified before the subcommittee to share the California experience and make the case for a federal law that would extend these protections nationwide. The federal version would go further than California’s bill, allowing judges to issue lifetime protective orders at sentencing for the most serious offenders.
“In California, we’ve passed law after law reducing penalties, expanding early release, limiting tools for law enforcement, and creating more barriers for survivors,” Valladares said in the release. “Kayleigh’s Law goes in the other direction. It provides certainty where today there is none, protecting due process while prioritizing public safety and survivors’ rights. Survivors of violent crime deserve permanent protection, not temporary relief.”
