On Monday afternoon, Colorado lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced a bill that seeks more support for survivors of crimes that include domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human traffickin g.Senate Bill 26-095 is spearheaded by State Sen. Mike Weissman, D District 28. He outlines several issues he believes address gaps in the criminal justice system that can further traumatize survivors trying to prosecute their offenders.In a word, this is a bill about survivorship," Weissman said. "Survivorship touches a lot of different things, and we're trying to make clear that we get that.There are provisions in the bill related to the staggering rape kit backlog in Colorado that was spotlighted during last year's session such as requiring medical professionals who perform forensic examinations to tell individuals how to obtain those test results , but Weissman said SB26-095 strives to ensure survivors are protected in the criminal justice system, too.The backlog has gotten a lot of attention last year and this year, and rightly so. And frankly, it still needs attention, and I'm not done working on it this year, but there are other things we have to do in the vein of supporting survivors of these crimes," Weissman explained. Frankly, I'm already thinking about a list of things for a bill next year as well. But you know, one session at a time."The legislation would implement an Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) provision to address lawsuits used to intimidate survivors.Basically, we've had a mechanism on the books for years where if somebody sues you, say it's a defamation lawsuit, and all you were doing is using your First Amendment right to speak up, you can get that lawsuit against you dismissed out of court quickly," said Weissman. We're making an analog of that kind of law for survivors who are speaking their truth, and somebody tries to sue them for simply saying what happened to them. Other states have this kind of law, too.The bill seeks to change Colorado law on forced arbitration for sex assault survivors as well. Arbitration is a way to resolve a case outside of the courtroom.Years ago, in a rare moment of bipartisanship, the U.S. Congress amended federal arbitration law to provide that if you're a survivor of sex assault or sex harassment in the workplace, you can't be compelled into arbitration, which is kind of a shadow court. So, what we're doing is just updating state law accordingly," Weissman said.Another component of the bill allows survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking to testify virtually during court proceedings under certain circumstances.You go to the adjacent room of the courthouse, and you're basically on a closed circuit or web kind of link, because sometimes it can be really, really traumatic to be right there in the room giving testimony with somebody who's turned your life upside down. And pardon my French, but made it made it hell," Weissman said. We have a mechanism like this for child witnesses and other sensitive witnesses. We're just extending that to witnesses who need to give testimony in this kind of protected way.That option would have changed the way Coles Whalen's case unfolded, she believes.Whalen is a musician from Denver who found herself while performing on stage, and told Denver7 it was always more than a career for her it was a calling."At the height of my music career, I acquired a dangerous stalker," Whalen said. "He was messaging me, sometimes hundreds of messages a day. One investigator on the case estimated that over six years, he sent me more than a million messages, and they had escalated in tone from just delusional to violent and then extremely threatening.She was forced to make the difficult decision to step away from her music."I thought to myself, many times, how unfair it is the power that a total stranger can have over you to just totally upend your life," Whalen said. "I had to walk away from my passion. I had to leave the State of Colorado, and I had to find a new identity.In 2017, Whalen took her offender to trial in Arapahoe County, where she said he was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. Colorado bill would provide more support for sexual assault victimsTo her shock, the U.S. Supreme Court reexamined the case in 2023."We thought that chapter was closed," Whalen said. "The perpetrator had already served his full sentence, so we really thought that. And I had done so much work to move on from this crime and the trauma that it inflicted on me; it was a surprise to everyone that we would have to re-engage with this lawsuit and the court.Suddenly, Whalen was at the center of a First Amendment case, where the Supreme Court vacated her offender's stalking conviction and ruled that the state court applied the wrong test to determine if the continued communication amounted to true threats.The Supreme Court found that a victim's reasonable fear was no longer enough to convict, and they required proof that the perpetrator knew that his messages could be perceived as threats," Whalen said. The case was kicked back to Arapahoe County, and I was given the option to retry it, and many of the state's lawyers believed that the evidence would likely support another conviction."That conviction depended on Whalen's testimony, something she could not bear to do again."I just chose not to do it, not to put myself through that trauma again, not to be revictimized, retraumatized, and without my testimony, the case was dropped," Whalen said. "The record was sealed. If you call Arapahoe County today, they'll tell you that no crime was committed."It was a huge blow for Whalen, who uprooted her life and career because of another person's actions.If I had the option for remote testimony in 2023 when I was given the option to retry the case, I would have done it," Whalen said. It allows me to tell my story, not shaped by intimidation, not four feet away from him.Whalen testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of SB26-095 on Monday afternoon, telling them that no matter how frightening the messages were from her offender, her experience in the courtroom was worse."I spent two days in the witness stand recounting intimate details of my experience while he loudly reacted every time I said I didn't know him or that I was afraid of him. No victim should have to experience that," Whalen said.Weissman along with every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed with Whalen.SB26-095 would also require annual, two-hour trauma-informed training programs for peace officers.The bill heads to the Senate Floor for consideration next. ...read more read less