NJ registry of some violent offenders proposed as safeguard for online daters

New Jersey Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, shown in 2010, has proposed an online registry of those convicted of domestic violence in certain cases. (AP photo, file)
A New Jersey lawmaker wants information about some offenders convicted of domestic violence to be available for public view on the Internet.
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora’s bill calls for New Jersey’s attorney general to develop an accessible registry of offenders who’ve been convicted of murder, aggravated assault, or sexual assault.
“We’re in an era of online dating. A lot of people are going on dates, and they really don’t know that individual,” said Gusciora, D-Mercer. “So this would help prevent somebody getting entangled with a serial domestic violence person.”
But Jane Shivas, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women, said she’s not sure the registry would really increase safety because she doubts many people would consult it before getting into a relationship.
“I don’t know of a lot of people in my own personal life who don’t work in the area of domestic violence who would think about something like this before dating,” she said. “It may be that there are people who do.”
The proposed registry might not be the best use of state funds, Shivas added.
“It’s expensive to develop, to maintain, and to make sure that they’re accurate,” she said. “And criminal records are already public in so way so people can get access to that.”
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