Bills on domestic violence, drugs to become law

People convicted of domestic violence or sexual assault, as well as producers of methamphetamine, will face harsher punishments when several state laws take effect Wednesday.

The N.C. General Assembly made the crime of assault by strangulation, formerly a misdemeanor, a felony punishable by as many as two years in prison.

The N.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence worked hard with legislators to pass the bill, said Beth Froehling, public policy specialist for the coalition. "This type of behavior often leads to homicide."

Froehling said strangulation is used as an intimidation method by assailants.

The new provision also lowers the threshold at which the assailant is labeled a "habitual misdemeanor offender." Such a label automatically makes an abuser guilty of a felony.

Froehling said she is hopeful that the package of laws will improve the state's domestic violence reputation. "We will not tolerate domestic violence in our state."

Similar laws will protect victims of sexual assault.

One will terminate the parental rights of men convicted of a rape or sexual assault in which the victim becomes pregnant.

The law stems from a court case in which a man accused of a sex offense refused to waive his parental rights unless the victim told authorities a lesser crime took place.

Another pair of laws also will increase the use of civil no-contact orders.

Monika Johnson Hostler, executive director for the N.C. Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said the new laws are significant for the state.

"(Some) rape and stalking victims in North Carolina are not eligible for restraining orders because there is not a relationship between victims and assailants that fall within current specifications," she said.

Formerly, to be eligible for a restraining order, there had to be a defined relationship between victim and antagonist. Now, those guidelines will be loosened.

A related law also allows companies to file restraining orders on behalf of employees if the threat of workplace violence exists.

In a step intended to stop the spread of methamphetamine labs in the state, penalties for meth production will be dramatically stepped up when the laws take effect.

In 1999, nine meth labs were uncovered in the state, compared to 177 last year and 207 so far this year.

"It's a large problem in North Carolina," said William McKinney, spokesman for Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Meth manufacturing will be bumped up to a class C felony, punishable by up as many as 17 1/2 years in prison. Previously, the crime was a class H felony, likely carrying a punishment of probation for the first offense.

Meth producers also will face harsher sentences if the drug was produced in the presence of a child because of the dangers of the fumes and possible explosions involved.

"The number of labs that've been discovered where people have been exposing their children to danger has exploded," McKinney said.

He added that Cooper and his staff are pleased with the more than 20 laws that will take effect Wednesday.

"They were laws we pushed for, and we worked hard with the General Assembly to create. And we hope they will be used effectively."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.