Expansion of N.Y.
Domestic Violence Laws to Cover Dating Relationships

Gov. David Paterson has agreed to sign a major expansion of New York State's domestic violence laws, The New York Times reported Thursday. According to the Times, the new law will allow family court judges to file civil protection orders against a broader range of abusers, including those involved in dating relationships.

"Everybody but us allows a broader group of people to be able to get a civil order of protection," Brooklyn assemblywoman Helene Weinstein told the Times. "The need became more apparent over time."

Paterson agreed with Weinstein. "New York lagged behind all the other states in the Northeast in terms of addressing orders of protection," he told the Times. "We expanded the coverage to include what we would consider to be intimate relationships. They do not have to be sexual."

The law will cover both heterosexual and LGBT relationships. (The Advocate)