The New Jersey Assembly unanimously approved six bills on Monday designed to address the issue of domestic violence and abuse. The sponsors of the measures all said the legislation was drafted long before the high-profile cases involving NFL star running backs Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson came to light.

Domestic violence
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"This really has nothing to do with the NFL. This is an issue that we've been talking about for years," said Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-Union). "It (domestic abuse) is one of those dirty little secrets that people don't talk about or if they do they whisper, but it's something that we need to and must discuss."

The bill co-sponsored by Quijano would require convicted domestic abusers who are placed on probation or have their sentence suspended to attend domestic violence counseling.

Other measures approved Monday would:

  • Create a 16-member task force to review current domestic violence laws in New Jersey.
  • Permit victims to secure restraining orders against perpetrators when no personal relationship between the two parties exists, such as when the attacker is a stranger or a casual acquaintance of the victim.

Also on Monday, the 10 female Republican members of the Assembly issued a joint statement calling on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to resign because of how he has handled the domestic abuse issues within the league.

"When someone sucker punches an innocent woman or takes a switch to his son, something is terribly wrong. The league either delays disciplinary action or issues a slap on the wrist of the offender. The victims are vulnerable to the power of these men. Commissioner Goodell is unsuccessfully trying to appease the fans and advertisers that the league takes these actions seriously. If he were truly serious, he would apologize and submit his resignation over his failure to take immediate steps to prevent these kinds of assaults," wrote the Assemblywomen in an emailed press release.

 

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