US’s first registry of domestic abusers takes effect in Tennessee | Tennessee
A state law creating the first registry of people convicted of domestic violence in the United States went into effect in Tennessee on Thursday.
“Savanna’s law,” named after Savanna Puckett, who was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend in January 2022, requires the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation. database Individuals who have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to at least two domestic violence crimes.
The database will include the offender’s name, date of birth, photograph and location of conviction. It will not include their addresses.
The database can contain information on offenders up to 20 years from the date of their last conviction, although it is not retroactive. People will only be able to access the database if they plead guilty to or are convicted of crimes after January 1.
In January 2022, after Puckett failed to show up for work as a deputy sheriff in Robertson County in northern Tennessee. a co-worker went to his house and I found it in flames. Firefighters later discovered Puckett’s body, which had been shot multiple times. James Jackson Conn, Puckett’s ex-boyfriend. admitted a charge for first degree murder. He is currently serving a life sentence.
By the time Puckett died, Conn had compiled an extensive record of domestic violence allegations. According to the Tennesseean. According to the police report, Conn pushed his girlfriend down the stairs, dragged her across the yard and hit her in the head in 2019. That same year, Conn pushed a woman to the ground as she tried to get out of her car. After police told Conn not to contact the woman, Conn called the woman repeatedly and forced his way into her home in December 2019.
Conn pleaded guilty to multiple domestic violence and trespassing charges, the Tennesseean reported.
“When I finally saw all these records, I was horrified, because I know Savanna well enough to never date her,” said Puckett’s mother, Kim Dodson. He told a local news outlet in Tennessee. “Honestly, honestly, I really feel like if he knew he could still be here.”
Dodson began lobbying for registration after her daughter’s death. Puckett was 22 years old when he died.
One in four adult women and one in seven adult men in the United States have been victims of severe domestic violence. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Domestic violence also plays a role in mass shootings. A study found Nearly 70% of shootings that killed four or more people between 2014 and 2019 involved a perpetrator who killed a partner or family member or had a history of domestic violence.
