Article: Amanda's Law

Louisville, Ky.
After Amanda Ross was shot to death in front of her Lexington home in 2009, her murder became the galvanizing force behind new efforts to toughen Kentucky laws regarding domestic violence.
No, Ross was not the only person to pay with her life because of domestic violence - another four dozen Kentuckians had been killed by husbands, boyfriends or former mates in a three-year period including 2009. But she died at the hand of her ex-fiancé, Steve Nunn, a former Kentucky state representative and one-time candidate for governor, and his public profile fueled extra news coverage of what otherwise might have been another grim and tragic statistic.
Likewise, advocates in and out of state government also mobilized around Ross' senseless death to make Kentucky a safer place for victims of domestic violence, and last year "Amanda's Law" was passed. The main part of the new state law allows for tracking offenders with a global positioning system and notifying their possible targets when they get too close. Reality hasn't matched intentions.
A July 16 Associated Press story reports that funding and technology issues have gotten in the way of the new law being used.
For instance, Pike County hasn't come up with a cell phone provider for the system, and Warren County's fiscal court hasn't approved funding for it. Additionally, federal money for the system fell with the ban on earmarks, and low-income defendants can't pay for court-ordered tracking.
The Kentucky Legislature is in a position to correct the deficits and omissions in the law in its next session. The Ross family and their allies are doing their part to continue advocating for a stronger version of the law. The rest of Kentucky needs to be part of that mission, too. As a Ross family spokesman said, "We want to make certain that Amanda's Law is used by our courts and our judges to make sure that other victims will have a fighting chance."